When I took my son along to his football practice last week, my daughter asked if she could join the team, this was the same when we went to Jujitsu the week after. Thankfully, there are lots of young girls keen to start playing football, which bodes well for the future of the sport. However, there is a shortage of female coaches for both sports. It got me thinking about the lack of female financial advisers within my own profession. Why is it when we are in a time of such equality that there is a lack of gender diversity in the financial sector? ‘Women’s share of wealth is growing rapidly – as a recent Credit Suisse report showed. Women account for 40% of the world’s wealth and female investors are more likely to choose and work with a diverse wealth management team.’ International Women’s Day marks a moment for us all to celebrate the social, economic and cultural achievements of women globally and we are glad to support this great initiative.

CALL FOR MORE FEMALE ADVISERS

There is a rise in female clients as we are taking more control of our financial circumstances; this is due to the growth of women succeeding in business, divorce rates rising and the death of spouses; Women are getting more involved in their financial affairs, where we have previously relied on male partners to seek expert advice. Due to the rapidly increasingly share of wealth controlled by women, I find that I am working with lots of very affluent women and that often women would rather work with a female such as myself than a male adviser. I predominantly work with professional women, who run their own companies or who have demanding work schedules. I also work closely with a divorce lawyer and solicitors; therefore, I work with clients going through divorce proceedings, or who have lost a loved one and inherited an estate meaning, I work closely with many females who want clarity in times of chaos and high emotion and basically to understand how they can preserve their wealth and protect their financial future. My job is to guide clients, offer stability and help them take financial control. That way they can concentrate on managing their Financial advice for savvy women company and juggling their family/ day to day life. As a woman I am a natural caretaker and can bring incredible strength to the advisory relationship I have with my clients, my listening and communication skills have helped me personally to be successful in this field.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

There’s a perception – which in my experience is very real – that men and women have different approaches to communication. For example, women generally want to discuss sensitive financial matters with another woman, due to the emotional assimilation we feel. Also, women assess risk differently from men and are generally more cautious and less prone to taking risk than males. This is an area I treat very sensitively and spend a lot of time educating and explaining in my meetings. Having a long-term plan for your future doesn’t mean you have to be involved in day-to-day investing and financial planning decisions. My job is to let you do what you are good at and take care of your families. Delegate these decisions to your adviser andtake care of a job for tomorrow today.