Of the 38 million households headed by single women, over 9 million are estimated to have investable assets in excess of $100,000. Sixty percent of those women are projected to seek financial advice through 2015, according to a recent study by Information Asset Partners (IAP) and Meridian-IQ.

The analysis compared the number of women in wealth management with this potential market. Meridian-IQ provided data on active women registered representatives and RIAs with at least one female advisor. IAP used its Empirics metrics to determine this market segment and their potential to use an advisor.

Overall, the study found no correlation in states between the number of affluent single-woman headed households and the number of female advisors. Some states ranked high in the number of households but low on the number of female advisors. About one in five active registered representatives are women. RIAs with female advisors exceed 10 percent of the state’s firms in only West Virginia and New Mexico.

Ten states represent 55 percent of the nation’s single-woman headed households with investable assets of over $100,000, the study showed.

Florida is the only large state where the number of female advisors most closely "mirrors" the number of single-woman investors. The state has 6.7 percent of single-woman investors and ranked eighth for active female registered representatives and sixth for RIAs with female advisors.

California represents the largest retail market, with 12.3 percent of affluent single-woman investors. The state ranks three for active registered representatives, but it ranks near the bottom at 41 for RIAs with women advisors.

New York has 8.3 percent of single-woman investors, making it the second-largest retail market. But the state ranks 37th for active registered representatives and 29th for RIAs with women advisors.

"When you look at where the women financial advisors are located within the broker-dealers, wirehouses and RIAs across 50 states, it's clear that the industry is not mirroring its clients,” said Cecile Munoz, president of U.S. Executive Search. “Now that we have hard numbers, this data should compel the industry to not only take action, but specifically, where it is most needed."