RIA Event Attracts Nearly 300 Women

Keel Point Wealth Advisors hit a sweet spot in Huntsville, Ala., with a women-only symposium.

Huntsville was nicknamed "Rocket City" when the aerospace and avionics industries moved into the city in the 1960s. As technology and science companies established themselves in the area, it became ripe with professionals in need of financial advice.

Keel Point Wealth Management advisors said it felt women investors in Huntsville were being underserved and hosted a Women’s Leadership Conference in the city on March 15.

“It has been important to me to make sure that our women clients were recognized as decision makers when it comes to the financial affairs of their family,” said Keel Point wealth advisor Lisa Wiseman.

Wiseman believes that women clients should be recognized as key financial decision makers, especially since studies show they are becoming increasingly more involved in family financial decisions.

Studies like the annual "Women, Money, and Power" study by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, an international financial services company, reported that of more than 1,000 women earning $30,000 and above, 51 percent consider themselves the chief financial officer of their household and 53 percent are responsible for managing their family’s long-term savings and investments.

For affluent women ($4.4 million or more in assets), participation in family financial affairs has increased. Thirty-six percent of women surveyed in RBC’s Women and Wealth Transfer study said they managed their own investments, compared with 49 percent of men. But 84 percent of women said they have full or joint responsibility for their family’s investment portfolio.

“We want to engage our women clients so they not only feel like we know they are the decision makers, but also to educate them,” said Wiseman.

The Women’s Leadership Summit wasn’t about investing, but rather a celebratory event for women professionals, Wiseman said.