The financial advisory industry has been largely focused on men who take charge of the home finance, but with a growing number of female high-net-worth breadwinners, businesses have to change the way they approach prospective clients.
In the upcoming webcast, Gender Diversification For Advisors Serving High Net Worth Executives, Laura Gregg, Director of Practice Management and Advisor Research, FlexShares ETFs managed by Northern Trust, will take a look at recent surveys on this targeted segment to outline high-net-worth women’s investments and financial goals, along with what they expect from their advisors.
In a recent survey of high-net-worth investors, FlexShares found that both men and women share common traits, but they also exhibit diverging behaviors, which many financial advisors are not addressing.
“High earning executives and professionals are a key target for many financial advisors but there is little research on this targeted segment. This survey was designed to understand their investment and financial goals, what they expect from their advisors and which roles – other than primary breadwinners – they play at home,” according to FleXshares.
For instance, a growing number of U.S. wealth creators are women but advisors still maintain outdated assumptions regarding their interest in investing, risk tolerance and lifestyle struggles. The survey found that these executives are less conservative investors than their male counterparts, have a strong interest in investing and struggle less with work/life balance.
The research focused on executive women whom are primary breadwinners. Most industry research suggests all women are wealthy as the result of a wealth transfer. While wealth transfer may be true for many, FlexShares’ research focused on a growing group of wealth creators among women with high levels of earned income and investable assets.
“Our findings don’t align with gender stereotypes. Whether on risk attributes, investor objectives or lifestyle preferences, our findings didn’t fit neatly into a stereotypical gender-specific framework. We believe this directly impacts why an advisor may want to reconsider assumptions around their HNW client service model,” according to FlexShares.
Financial advisors who are interested in learning more about ways to meet shifting financial goals of investors can register for the Wednesday, December 4 webcast here.