No mystery to providing advice for women

It would seem to be the most obvious market segment available and possibly even over serviced, but women investors are high on the list of groups that financial planners, investment houses and even the media are targeting.

According toBT Funds Managementexecutive vice-president and head of BT Private Investments Division Vivienne James, the reason for the growth in women as a market for financial advice is that while education levels have increased across the board, women are now on par with men in their understanding of financial services.

“There has been a gap but that is being filled with women seeking avenues of advice which provide application to their own lives,” James says.

James is the author of theWomen’s Money Bookwhich last year went through its third printing and says there has been a shift in the way that financial services are pitched to women.

“Many groups supply advice in conjunction with products and discuss how it works in various markets and what the risks are, and while this is fine, women tend to approach it from a different perspective,” James says.

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“They look at the emotional issues tied to money such as education for children, retirement income, and not whether they have $10,000 in equities.”

James says the motivators for women are not financial goals and as such, they regard advisers as long-term coaches in the area of financial services.

“Advisers need to understand this difference and tackle the issues such as different insurance needs because women are working longer and living longer which is changing the basis for advice,” James says.

“This is evident in that many younger women are happy to work with an adviser for validation of investment decisions instead of being purely led.”

Yet James cautions advisers from thinking that while there are differences in providing advice to women, the old culture of being made to feel naïve or unaware must be avoided.

“There are cases where advisers have not targeted women investors because they feel it may be offensive to do so, but there are ways to tackle the needs of women by covering issues such as divorce, superannuation and becoming widowed,” James says.

Women’s Money MagazinePerrie Croshaw says there is a specific need for targeting information to women which is the driver behind the title’s existence.

Croshaw says the title, published quarterly with its third edition on the streets, is based on the belief that the issues presented in other media does not always meet the needs of women, hence the need for a targeted title.

Croshaw says the investment styles, normally focused on much research, as well as different lifestyle considerations of women, such as being the primary care givers and non-continuous work histories due to child rearing, mean many of the issues relevant to men are not applicable.

While these statements are generalisations, something Croshaw says is hard to avoid in such a wide market, there are notable differences.

“Women want a holistic approach to investing which differs in some ways from men, so that issues like health insurance are also on the radar,” Croshaw says.

Despite these differences, Bell Potter Securities head of wealth management Heather Zampatti says providing financial advice to women does not require a massive change in thinking.

“Financial advisers will take on more women clients because they live longer, but the fundamentals of looking at what is invested, how to react to that in market movements and how to best use those investments remain the same for all clients,” Zampatti says.

According to Zampatti, there should be no set-and-forget strategies for any clients.

At the same time, she says the uniqueness of providing financial advice to women is to take into consideration different approaches to investments while understanding that the needs of women in investment are very similar to men.

“Most people are striving for the same thing even though they may approach it from different view points or for different reasons,” Zampatti says.

“The major difference is that it is important for women to get as much information as possible and ensure they receive the same kind of services offered to other segments of the market.”