Women Aren’t Delegating Wealth Management Decisions: They Are Making Them
It has now been officially documented (at least for Canadian women): “Women with a partner are less likely to delegate long-term-wealth-management decisions than before.” This comes from a study by Mirabaud Canada (a wealth-management firm) that was mentioned by writer Sarah Dougherty for The (Montreal) Gazette (reg. required) . There must be a current study with similar results for the U.S. market (please email or comment here if you know of one).
In the same way it was interesting to note the long-coming “trend” that engagement ring purchases are more likely to involve both parties these days (as per the retailers at the AGS conference, where I presented in April), Mirabaud portfolio manager Pierre Dufour noted the same for wealth management: “Now, couples come together. Women take part in the discussion and the final decision.”
That women are heavily involved in wealth management decisions (or jewelry purchases) should not be a big shocker – but traditional industries tend to be a little slower on the draw. It can no longer be about how the (often) male account representative just magically makes the decisions go away by making them himself. No. Women won’t go for that.
Rather, as I put it in my interview for Dougherty’s piece:
“To reach women more effectively, wealth-management advisers of both
genders need to anticipate a longer purchasing process, build
relationships, educate and share information and learn to communicate
differently.”
The article is very comprehensive with a take on Canadian women/wealth-management from which any U.S. firm would learn. Joanne Thomas-Yaccato, my good friend and fellow expert in marketing to women (especially in Canada), was also interviewed.
And, for one last fascinating tidbit about the differences between white and black women and financial independence (thanks to information from Women in Black and White , which published in EPM’s Marketing to Women newsletter, July 2007):
“Although White women live in households with higher incomes, Black women are more financially independent. They are more likely than White women to have a checking and savings account in their own names and they are more likely to be the support of their extended families. They are also more likely to give to charity.”
Fascinating. I’ll try to dig up a little more on this topic for a future post.
