Meanwhile, besides taking on her new CFP Board role, Blayney has launched a new venture of her own called Directions Inc., a company aimed at women advisors and investors that she hopes to have up and running this fall. "The idea is to speak to women about financial planning on their own terms," Blayney says. "Women will live longer and probably will spend a significant time alone at the end of their lives. They are more likely to have taken care of an elderly parent and put their own needs aside. In the game of life, women's [golf] tees are way behind men's.
"Women talk about things differently," she says. "They are more process driven rather than performance driven. They are usually more conservative investors, but they may need to take more risks to earn the returns they need."
Blayney is in the process of setting up regional centers for women financial advisors who specialize in female clients. She is also writing a book on the subject.
"I see Directions' mission as twofold," she says. One aspect is "creating a community of women CFPs who are interested in developing women clients. This is a profession that women are breaking into on both the professional level and as clients. Of 60,000 CFPs, one in four are women. I think I know about how to talk to women and I want to help planners develop that technique.
"The other side is that the CFPs then will develop a circle of women clients," she envisions. "This is another ground-floor effort-like entering the profession at an early stage and now being able to be the first CFP Board consumer advocate-that I am lucky enough to be a part of."