Advisors should be careful not to over-generalize about younger investors and women clients, but nevertheless have to be attuned to what these investors need, speakers at Financial Advisor magazine's Invest in Women conference said Tuesday.
 
“It’s a myth that women are conservative or like to be told what to do,” said Catherine McBreen, managing director at the Spectrem Group, a research firm.
High-earning professional women with $250,000-plus incomes are more likely than affluent men or other affluent women to view themselves as aggressive investors, she said.
 
“They are more likely … to see taking risk as more important in creating wealth,” McBreen said at the inaugural Invest in Women conference in Las Vegas, sponsored by Financial Advisor magazine. 
 
Gail Graham, chief marketing officer at United Capital, scoffed at the idea that women needed more education about financial issues than men. 
 
Women “are less confident [about investing] because they see the big picture,” she said. In other words, they’re aware of all the financial risks in their lives, from college costs and retirement shortfalls, to tending to aging parents and spouses.
 
“It’s not [being] risk-averse, it’s being risk-aware,” said Kim Dellarocca, managing director at Pershing LLC.
 
United Capital’s research shows that people in general “are not interested in having the saving and investing conversation,” Graham said. “It’s shocking” because that’s what the industry talks about, she said.
 
Women and Millenials in particular are interested discussing their work and earnings, and they want help with spending wisely, she said. For example, younger people may delay home or car purchases if they have alternatives available. 
 
Although they may be late to home ownership, younger investors are definitely interested in investing in real estate after seeing what the financial crisis did to financial assets, she said.
 
They want assets “that aren’t going anywhere,” Dellarocca said.
 
High-earning women are also very interested in investment real estate, McBreen said.
 
These professional women are more likely to use advisors than other affluent segments. But that good news comes with a warning: They’re also the least satisfied with financial advisors. 
 
“They are the most demanding,” McBreen said, noting that this group was composed of many doctors and lawyers.
 
Offering concierge services to high-income women might work, assuming an advisory firm can make it profitable.
 
The segment is the first group Spectrem has seen that is really interested in concierge services, which many high-end firms have thought about offering. 
Working women are interested in getting help with their busy lives, McBreen said.