The overwhelming majority of dealer principals and financial planners are still men and therefore, at the individual practice level, women don’t have a lot of input into the development and refinement of advice processes.
Traditional advice solutions have been developed by men for men or couples where men are the dominant partner.
Yet new research by ING DIRECT, conducted by Galaxy Research, found 66 per cent of women who are married or in a de facto relationship are joint financial decision makers while 27 per cent of women make the majority of financial decisions.
Furthermore, women are soon to become the main beneficiaries of an enormous intergenerational wealth transfer with the baby boomers and their parents set to pass down $2.4 trillion over the next three decades^.
Advisers and accountants are not only ideally positioned to help benefactors with the smooth transfer of this bounty, they’re also a logical choice to help beneficiaries manage, protect and grow their wealth.
However, financial planning hasn’t historically been very female-friendly. A key reason is that women haven’t played a key role in its development.
Savvy businesses that want to win and help more female clients should consider hiring female advisers and female staff in key areas like research, advice development, communications, marketing and design.
It’s sensible that in an increasingly competitive environment, businesses with a diverse management and advisory team – reflective of their customer base or target customer base – will have an advantage.
Women of all ages, but particularly older women because they stand to participate the most in the intergenerational wealth transfer, should be actively involved in the ongoing development of an advisory firm’s value proposition to ensure it caters to the needs of both men and women.
Any marketing material must also appeal to both sexes.
While it’s unlikely small suburban accounting and financial planning practices will have formal market research campaigns, every business should be spending more time getting to know and understand their target client better. Market research can be as simple and effective as having more meaningful conversations with women whether they’re family, friends, staff or clients.
Technology will play an increasingly larger role in building and delivering solutions that appeal to women by providing simplicity, transparency, value for money and regular communications.
If advisers want to lift their appeal to women they’ll need systems that allow them to communicate more regularly, proactively and of course, digitally. Client communications should avoid jargon and provide clear messages and information.
The end result will be an advice proposition with a more universal and enduring appeal, that will see more women benefit from professional advice and ongoing support and assurance.
