Five female advisers on how they advise women

And according to national statistics, women are more likely to outlive men. But they are also more likely to look to their family for financial advice than an adviser, research from Canada Life found.

Two in five women (42 per cent) surveyed said they would approach their family for advice, followed by money advice websites (35 per cent) and financial advisers (27 per cent).

Women are likely to feel apprehensive about initially engaging with an adviser, says Sarah Roughsedge, founder of Eva Wealth Management for Women. “This hurdle is significantly lowered if they have been personally referred by someone they trust.

“Being a woman doesn’t require an approach in a particular way. However, being made to feel comfortable and that they are being listened to and understood will be key in creating the first impression and likelihood of that individual engaging with an adviser.”

Enabling financial independence

Not only is there an advice gap but a gender pension gap, too. On average, women who are in their 20s are on course to retire with £100,000 less in their pension pot than a man of the same age, according to a Scottish Widows report in 2020.

Stephanie Pickering, a chartered financial planner and founder of Verity Wealth Management, says that women may therefore be more concerned than men about having enough money in retirement.

“They often worry they have a far greater need to make up pension funding in later years, possibly due to broken or halted careers from raising their families. Some females are also facing a financial hit at the end of their careers, as they often take more time out to look after ageing relatives.”

Despite strides towards equality, with more women retaining their careers while raising a family, Francesca Smith, private office financial planner at Jarrovian Wealth, says households still often have a main breadwinner.

“Many female clients are looking to ensure that their money is working effectively for them and can provide a foundation for security, but also to enable independence. We are all becoming more aware that the state is unlikely to be able to support us sufficiently in our retirements, and therefore an even greater focus is being placed on building savings and ensuring that your money is working for you.”

Relatability

Female financial planners grasp these hardships that women can face, says Gretchen Betts, managing director at Magenta Financial Planning. “Juggling busy lives, jobs and children, female-specific health, managing ageing generations of family and wanting security and flexibility when investing. We know about these needs because they are our needs too.”

The fact that female advisers face many of the same challenges and experiences, which differ from most men’s experiences, can improve relatability with clients, says Roughsedge, and can help to create a space where female clients feel comfortable to discuss topics they may otherwise feel too sensitive.

“This provides us a great head start to understanding our clients’ situations, their decision-making processes and how we can best help them grow and protect their wealth in new ways.”

While not all female clients will seek female financial advisers, Roughsedge says that for some women it is an extremely important proposition to help make them feel more at ease from the start, particularly if they do not feel as financially literate as men.

A collaborative approach

Gillian Hepburn, head of UK intermediary solutions at Schroders, says that while women are allegedly more risk averse, the investment manager’s own research has indicated that women are simply more risk aware.

“It’s simply about understanding [women] and not adopting stereotypes. The key is to enable them to ask questions and not feel intimidated. Women [have] told us that they would really value more financial education.”

Sam Secomb, chief executive of Women’s Wealth, specialises in advice for women in their 30s and 40s, and has noticed that they favour a collaborative approach.

“These women want to level up their knowledge and be involved in designing solutions, rather than having it done for them. Traditional financial advice can be perceived as dictatorial. No small part of this is because as professional advisers we are responsible for the suitability of what an investor ends up with.

“We find women open to learning about personal finance and very capable of organising themselves and making decisions based on information and guidance. Many come to Women’s Wealth after researching and trying to buy an investment, but they have not been confident enough to do it. The guidance part is essential. We call it having a ‘BFF’ – best financial friend.”

Women with substantial amounts to invest also want to be treated with respect, and many want to be more involved in discussions when investing as couples, says Pickering at Verity Wealth Management. “I have spoken to many couples where the lady had felt excluded in conversations with other advisers, rather than being actively included.

“Just because a lady says she doesn’t understand, doesn’t mean she doesn’t want our help explaining things to help her understand. Many more questions come from females in second and subsequent meetings, having gone away and thought about the conversations in first meetings.”

Roughsedge likewise says that while female clients may initially come across as cautious investors, and even describe themselves as so, this is often due to a hesitancy to commit until they fully understand the recommendation, or the explanation of the investment risk.

“Women are often prepared to take on investment risk, recognising they need to, but they simply want to make sure they have all the facts and information available first before embarking on a proposal. This process can take a little longer than comparative scenarios with male clients.”

Chloe Cheung is a features writer at FTAdviser