Why IFAs need to consider what women really want when advising them

There is an opportunity for financial advisers to attract female clients by acknowledging their differing investment challenges. Women typically live longer than their male counterparts, yet have fewer savings and earn less. As such, they often need an investment package which addresses these very specific concerns, financial dynamics and goals.

Why IFAs need to consider what women really want when advising them

Image Credit

Common Goals in Investment

Covering the costs of long term care and maintaining current lifestyles and flexibility remains an important financial goal for both men and women. However, in addition to these, women often have other considerations, such as funding their children’s education and the longer term security and wellbeing of others. Their investments are often geared more towards a specific purpose – namely flexibility, education and long term care.

Women frequently seek an easy access style of investment, which can potentially provide more security should the unthinkable happen. Financial advisers should therefore pose a number of well thought out ‘what if’ questions, to develop a more in-depth understanding about the client’s individual circumstances.

Funding Retirement

The most common reason for female investment is also perhaps the most daunting. Investors should work through a range of theoretical scenarios, in order to replace ambiguity with solid numbers and discuss risk. It is recognised that women tend to be more averse to risk. However, while it is important to ensure risks are reasonable, an overly cautious approach may lead to a shortfall in retirement funding and an inability to meet future financial commitments.

Education

The cost of education today has become an almost overwhelming responsibility. Financial advisers must look carefully at timeframes and base their advice upon these. It is important that IFAs acknowledge the importance of education-related goals and help clients prepare fully for these.

Assessing risk

Risk is obviously at the forefront of all investment decisions. Broaching the subject is essential if investment goals are to be appropriately met. Financial services need a complete overhaul in terms of providing women with what they actually want and need, ensuring financial goals can be made more specific and solution-based, as opposed to catering to the more general markets. Utilising financial adviser software and client management agencies, such as https://www.intelliflo.com/client-management is one way forward.

In short, financial advisers have the chance to reap future dividends, simply by having the right conversations now.

Related posts