Raising financial literacy among women is not only good for those women themselves, but can be good for their partners and for society as a whole, says Catherine Robson, a finalist in the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) Female Excellence in Advice Award 2012.
Robson, a founding principal of Melbourne-based Affinity Private, says the awards help raise the profile of women involved in providing financial advice and create role models to inspire other women.
“I am passionate about the ideas that this award stands for,” Robson says.
“Financial literacy for women in Australia is really important. I think there’s a gap in financial literacy for women generally in society, but I think there’s a whole range of benefits that not only the individual but all of us in society can gain from women having more of a leadership role when it comes to money.”
Robson says leadership can start in the home.
Smarter women, better couples
“There’s lots of married couples I’ve consulted with over the years, where when decisions are made jointly in a married couple there’s often greater perspective, there’s often a more harmonious approach to these things,” she says.
“I think there’s often an abdication that happens when women get married and have kids, and it can be a really lonely experience for men to be the sole breadwinner and also the sole financial decision-maker.
“So, part of what I see as my job in consulting with clients is asking women to step up and to be involved and to make sure that they understand, so they are not only participating in their own financial life but also I think it’s a really positive outcome for their relationships.
“This award gives some of those issues airplay that don’t often get talked about enough.”
Big ask
Robson (right) says the process of nominating for entering the awards was “really rigorous”.
“I’ve been involved in some other award processes,” Robson says. “I thought that the questions that were asked in the submission process were really insightful and they drew on a real range of areas, and demanded that the applicant was demonstrating a capability in multiple disciplines.
“In some ways I think this award is harder than some of the ‘general’ awards, in that not only is it asking you to demonstrate that you’re a good financial planner, but it’s also asking you to demonstrate that you have a passion for doing things beyond what you’d expect a financial planner to do.”
Those extra things include promoting financial planning as a potential career for other women, being a leader in “asking women more generally to take control of their finances”, and setting an agenda to air the issues that affect women.
Applaud the questioning mind
Robson says that when she started work in the financial services industry as a 23-year-old graduate, “I was hypersensitive to the perception of being a lightweight”.
“Blonde, female and in the world of finance, I was hypersensitive to never asking questions, never asking for help, just in case someone thought I didn’t know what I was doing,” she says.
“And that was to my detriment in terms of enjoyment and professional development, because you learn from asking questions, you learn from drawing on other people’s experience and, to be honest, you learn from filing and trying again.
“So, if you’re always trying to pretend that you never fail at anything, that you always know what’s going on, you miss a lot of opportunities.
“To be a role model in this area, I’d like to be able to show young women who are 23-year-old graduates in the world of finance that it’s OK to be a woman, it’s OK to ask questions – it’s something to be applauded.
“And hopefully they’d fast-track past some of the bigger mistakes that I’ve made along the way, and get to a point where they really love what they’re doing.”
Sharing vulnerabilities
Robson says it is incumbent on some of the industry’s more senior female practitioners to “share some of their vulnerabilities – and something like this award gives you an opportunity to give something of a warts-and-all account of how you’ve got to where you are”.
“In mentoring younger women, there’s an opportunity to be really honest with them and mentor them in a way that makes them feel comfortable,” she says.
“And look, it’s not like I don’t think there are some fabulous men who are absolutely brilliant mentors to junior staff, whether they’re male or female, but I do think women are more comfortable opening up and showing some of their vulnerabilities if that’s coming back from their mentor as well.”
