Financial advice differs for men and women

Male and female financial planners are perceived as two distinct groups by the Australian public, according to a National Australia bank (NAB) survey.

The survey, which was conducted in October, asked more than 1200 people for their views on providers of financial advice, including attitudes to gender and age.

The survey found just under two thirds believe both were equally knowledgable and neither had everything it took to be a good financial planner.

However, it found that women were considered to be significantly better communicators than men with 43.3 per cent saying women were better, and 12.4 per cent saying men were better communicators. About 40 per cent say there is no difference in the communication skills of either sexes.

On the other hand, men were regarded as more authoritative when it came to giving financial advice. Forty-five per cent said men were more authoritative than women, while 35 per cent said the sexes were equal and only 10 per cent said women were more authoritative.

In other questions asked, such as believability and trustworthiness, females rated better than males. Almost half of those surveyed said the sexes were equally believable, but one-third said women were more believable than men and only 10 per cent said men were more believable than women.

Close to 60 per cent say men and women were equally trustworthy, however 27 per cent said women were more trustworthy than men and only seven per cent said men were more trustworthy.

The National says it undertook the study to better understand consumer attitudes to financial planning.