But this group also suffers from a confidence gap about investing that needs to be addressed, and Blayney hopes that she and the national network of female CFPs she hopes to build will get in on the ground floor to address it. "Women will control more than half the wealth in this country, so we need to have a larger solution than simply, 'If you have a million or more, come in and see us,'" she says.

"What we hear from women is that investments are overwhelming, complicated and boring. What they need is retirement planning on one hand, but they also want to know what an annuity is. There is a very wide breadth of need."

In addition to a slew of female clients hungry for investments, Blayney's business model is depending on women CFPs who she hopes will want to become part of her network and use the seminar business model she is building. She hasn't yet put a price on these services for CFPs, but says they will include a workshop curriculum, marketing and referrals. "I believe that there is a whole world of people out there who need commoditized investment planning before they need separate account management," Blayney says.

All the women investors who have asset management needs and planning questions they can't address on their own or in the seminars will become referrals to the CFPs in Blayney's Directions network. In many cases, the seminars may be the first step for interested investors who want to retain an advisor, Blayney says. "This will lead to assets under management for the network, and I may offer a supporting investment management service for those CFPs who don't want to manage assets on their own," Blayney says. "I don't want to be just a seminar company, so yes, the more I think about it, the more I think offering assets management will be important."

At her former firm, Blayney helped create a business that grew to nearly $2 billion in assets under management. After having that success, why would she want to gamble on a new business model now? "I have been persuaded, having worked with women for more than 20 years, that the conversation needs to be different," she says. "In a traditional advisory setting, I don't think advice is accessible enough to women or that it's
a good context for education."

Some women report needing and wanting more investment information than men. Bank of America talked to female investors, 30% of whom indicated that they are behind when it comes to investing for retirement. At the same time 29% of women who do invest reported that they have difficulty knowing what kinds of investments to make.

We all know the statistics: Women are still more likely to have intermittent careers, earn less than men (11% less on average, according to the U.S. Department of Labor), accrue less Social Security benefits and, yes, invest less and less confidently.

It's true that many women start with significant roadblocks. But the real question, says Lynn Reaser, the retirement strategist and chief economist of the Investment Strategies Group at Bank of America, is this: "How can advisors help them address these issues now? It's important for [women] to understand how much they'll need in retirement. We find that most people, and women are no exception, [vastly] underestimate how much they'll need to live comfortably. Typically, people will need 85% of preretirement income."

The challenges facing women investors, however, could be good news for advisors. Allianz Life Insurance Company's new report, Women, Money and Power, found that while women want to learn about retirement planning and investing, they feel overwhelmed by investment information, which they find "overwhelming, complicated, boring and dry." In a separate study conducted by Prudential Financial, eight in ten women believe that maintaining their lifestyle in retirement is a priority, but 42% report not understanding what a mutual fund is, 30% don't understand IRAs and 23% don't grasp 401(k)-type plans.

The good news? Women want "a person to tell them" about investments, rather than reading about the topic, BofA found, and they find "human contact" the most meaningful and effective source of information.