Steph Willcox, Head Actuary, Dynamic Planner, looks at how paraplanners and their a desires can use technology as an effective means to engage more women in financial planning.
In the past, I’ve used this column to look at the importance of tailoring the service you provide to the needs of different client groups. This month, as it’s International Women’s Day, I want to talk specifically about how you can better serve female clients.
The financial services industry has traditionally catered to a male client base. It’s reflected in everything from hiring practices to meeting culture to branding. But factoring in the needs and preferences of women is not only positive for women’s financial outcomes, but good for business.
According to the Schroders 2024 UK Financial Adviser Survey, 62% of advisers are concerned their business could lose assets as wealth transfers between generations. But only 12% of firms have a strategy for retaining, attracting and advising women.
Typically, in heterosexual couples, wealth doesn’t pass straight to the next generation but first to the female partner – and up to 80% of those women fire their husband’s advice firm in the first year. That’s a lot of lost assets that could be retained with the right approach.
Meanwhile, according to the Office for National Statistics, the proportion of women who do not live in a couple and have never married is rising in every age category under 70. That means more and more women are planning alone. If you can engage and support that client base, you’re taking positive steps for the future of your firm.
So what can be done? Here are three ways to get it right for women, helped by your technology.
When people plan together, engage both of them
Virtual meetings are already changing the game for couples planning together. Advisers report that they now often see both members of the couple, whereas in the past only one made it to the face-to-face meeting because of the greater time commitment.
You can build on that increased engagement by making use of app technology in the advice process, alongside the human relationship. In the past, one member of the couple might have managed the family finances and the other was often in the dark. Now both members of the couple can have the plan in the palm of their hand.
That also facilitates financial conversations: it’s much easier and quicker to get your phone out of your pocket if you need to talk through a decision as a couple than it is to go and fetch the laptop or gather round a desktop.
Make it easier to plan around busy lives
A vital role of financial advice is to help people to prioritise sorting out their finances when they’re dealing with all the other demands of a busy life. For women, this can be a particular challenge.
Again, apps can help. Everything from setting up meetings to requesting information can be done with app technology, making life much easier for clients with demanding careers, regardless of gender, as well as for women who might be juggling work and childcare.
If you need to send a report or message, do it via your app. The advantages for client communication are proven, with an app notification 28 times more likely to trigger a response than an email – so you’ll also spend less of your day sending chasers!
Use content and cash flow to build financial literacy
Because women have historically not been involved in financial decisions, Dynamic Planner data shows they tend to have lower self-reported financial wellbeing: they have lower levels of financial confidence, are more easily disheartened and find it harder to make progress with their finances.
The good news is that financial advice has a positive impact on financial wellbeing regardless of gender, but is particularly beneficial for women. Tailored app-based content, alongside the financial plan, can help to strengthen that effect, letting clients boost their understanding in their own time.
Generating buy-in for the advice process through the use of a cashflow plan can also support women’s financial literacy and engagement with planning for the future.
With the gender pension gap currently standing at 35%, it’s vitally important to get financial advice to women who need it. As I hope I’ve convinced you, getting your service right for women is also essential for retaining assets and bringing on the next generation of clients. To mark International Women’s Day, I hope you’ll give some of these ideas a go.
