Advisors should not approach women as one market, panelists said at the Schwab Impact conference.
Advisors are waking up to the reality that women are going to control an enormous amount of wealth in the coming years. Thus, they are starting to do a better job of focusing on these clients and prospects. Those who continue to lump all women into one category are going to miss the boat.
At this years' Schwab IMPACT conference, a panel of experts spoke about engaging, serving and retaining female clients. Marie Dzanis from FlexShares and Heather Ettinger from Fairport Asset Management LLC were led by a moderator Suzanne Siracuse, a vice president at Crain Communications.
Don't Ignore Women
Schwab provided statistics showing that women control 51.3 percent of personal wealth assets and account for 48 percent of millionaires in the United States. The amount of wealth they control is expected to grow by 8 percent through 2014, and 60% of women are the sole or joint decision makers in advisor relationships.
While it is clear women should be a focus, advisors as a whole are not quite getting it yet. Females disproportionately higher dissatisfaction level with the financial service industry proves this point.
How To Build A Practice Around Women
Advisors should customize services they provide for women and prospect more effectively.
The panel stated one key skill women want from their advisors: To listen. Women want to be listened to and the industry, especially men, need to improve in this area if they want to have highly satisfied female clients.
A huge benefit of working with women compared with men is that they refer at a rate of four to one, Ettinger said.
Women should not be treated as one market, and advisors need to focus on women's priorities as they go through their life journeys, she added.