The financial services industry is undergoing a dramatic shift.
The next generation of investors will be younger and much more diverse, with women taking an increasingly prominent role in building and growing family and personal wealth.
Growing Economic Might
Women are underrepresented in the investing world, but this is changing fast. While various cultural and societal reasons are contributors to this, there is also a more simple driver: rising economic might.
- Women-controlled wealth in the U.S. will increase from $14 trillion to $22 trillion between 2015-2020
- Women control 51% of all personal wealth in the United States today
- Women are set to inherit $28.7 trillion in intergenerational wealth over the next 40 years
Women are becoming more important drivers of income and wealth for their families, as well:
- Women are now the primary breadwinners in 40% of U.S. households – a 4x increase from 1960.
- Women own 30% of all private businesses in the U.S.
- Women now hold the majority of management, professional, and related positions (52%)
Finally, women now make up the majority of recipients of Associate’s degrees (61%), Bachelor’s degrees (57%), Master’s degrees (60%), and Doctoral degrees (52%) in the United States.
The Wealth Management Gap
As women increase raise their level of economic influence to new levels, how will they manage this wealth?
Interestingly, studies show that women think about money and wealth differently than men – and differently from precedents already set in the financial services industry:
The Good News The Bad News
| Women are better savers, saving 9.0% of their salary in comparison to men (8.6% of salary) | Women consistently tend to score lower on financial literacy tests |
| Some research points to women generating better returns (+0.4%) off of investments | Some research points to women investing up to 40% less than men |
Changing Concerns
Data from a recent survey by New York Life Investments sheds light on why women may be underserved by the financial services industry.
Reasons why women switch financial advisors:
- 33% poor performance
- 29% lack of personal connection
- 27% poor customer services
In other words, women don’t switch investment advisors simply because of poor performance – there are other, more complex factors involved. Part of this is likely because 62% of women say they have unique investment needs and challenges:
Perceptions of women and investing:
- Financial professionals treat women differently – 40%
- Women feel patronized by financial advisors – 36%
- Financial advisors are less likely to listen to investing ideas from a woman – 30%
- Financial advisors push women out of financial conversations – 28%
- Women have less access to financial education – 26%
- Financial professionals find it hard to relate to women – 26%
- Financial advising is a man’s world – 24%
A Deeper Dive
It is crucial for advisors to understand that women are not one large, homogeneous group.
In fact, research shows that there are four unique segments of women that each approach investing differently – and they all have different sets of needs.
Source: https://www.nylinvestments.com/
