The survey took the pulse of 551 women with a net worth of at least $1 million. The basic finding is that women are dissatisfied with the financial services industry because many of them sense disrespect and condescension from the financial advisors who serve them.
"There are groups of women who don't feel they're being heard as unique individuals with different types of needs," says Eileen O'Connor, a FWAC member and co-author of the paper.
According to the paper, it's estimated that two-thirds of the nation's wealth will be in women's hands by 2030. But a one-size-fits-all approach to financial advice won't cut it with women, the research suggests. "The bad news is that it's hard to be all things to all people in the women's market," says O'Connor, a wealth manager at McLean Asset Management Corp. in McLean, Va. "You have to go deep into the niche if you want to capture that market."
The Women of Wealth paper will be the first of others likely to come from the council's survey, says O'Connor, who wrote it along with Heather Ettinger, a managing partner at Fairport Asset Management in Cleveland. The paper, available for purchase at www.familywealthadvisorscouncil.com, covers a range of critical issues facing women and gives examples of how advisors can succeed in this market.