It stands to reason that women and men who share family financial decisions have an opportunity to build on one another’s strengths and create a stronger team than if one spouse calls the shots alone.

A Greater Uncertainty

Yet investors who share decision-making paradoxically express a higher level of financial uncertainty than do those making decisions on their own, OppenheimerFunds research reveals. Asked for their views on diversifying the assets in their investment portfolios, 33 percent of women with shared decision-making responsibilities were unsure, compared with just 12 percent of women who have a primary role in making decisions. A similar disparity (32 percent-14 percent) occurred among women asked about their interest in specific types of assets, and about their preference for active versus passive investment strategies.

Such findings suggest that even when couples ostensibly commit to working together, true collaboration doesn’t happen without a concerted effort to make sure both partners take an active role in understanding the key issues.

Advisors Can Lead The Way

Financial advisors are uniquely positioned to help. Two thirds of investors surveyed in The Generations Project said they discuss their investment strategy with an advisor. At the same time, the report found that many advisors continue to focus most or all of their attention on their primary client rather than including spouses or other family members—potentially ignoring crucial perspectives.

OppenheimerFunds research suggests that women favor a balanced approach and place a higher importance on the professional qualifications of the financial advisors they work with. Men, meanwhile, may offer a greater degree of investing confidence when it comes to taking the risks necessary to achieve long-term growth.

Taking A Horizontal View

When advisors do expand their focus beyond the primary client, often it’s with an eye to helping families prepare for the expected $30 trillion wealth transfer from baby boomers to younger generations—the largest such transfer in history (Source: Accenture: The Great Wealth Transfer, 2015).

Yet the horizontal transfer of wealth to spouses deserves equal attention.

Women are 3.5 times more likely than men to outlive their spouses, and those who have not taken an equal position in the decision-making may find themselves unprepared for complex financial choices ahead. Thus, an advisory relationship involving solely a primary client poses risks for a surviving spouse, and for the advisor’s practice. Studies show that some 70 percent of women leave their family financial advisor after the death of a spouse.

Changing Times, Changing Attitudes

As the financial power and prominence of women has grown, so, too have certainty levels among younger women investors, The Generations Project found. Among millennial women, for example, just 15 percent expressed uncertainty about asset diversification, half the rate of boomer women.          

Younger couples today are much more partners in their approach to finances. They have more college debt in their balance sheets than previous generations, so they have to work together. And you’re more likely to have a couple comprising two professionals, both in the workforce. Regardless of such changes, though, true collaboration on family finances will always require more than just lip service and the role of the advisor will only continue to grow.

Ned Dane is head of private client group at OppenheimerFunds.