What are the odds of three top financial planning awards all being won by women?
In the case of one – the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) Female Excellence in Advice Award – the odds obviously are pretty good. But women have also won the Financial Planning Association (FPA) Certified Financial Planner Professional of the Year and the AFA’s Adviser of the Year awards.
Something’s going on here, clearly.
Women are under-represented among the ranks of financial planners. For three of the best financial planners in the country all to be women is clearly some sort of statistical anomaly. Female planning practitioners are clearly very good – it’s just that there aren’t nearly enough of them.
I wonder if this situation is the result of the people who actually seek advice. We know that most people who seek advice are male. I can understand – even if I do not agree with – the view that says a man might not feel comfortable establishing a relationship with a female adviser. I understand the converse view, too, which holds that a woman is likely to feel more comfortable seeking advice and developing an advice relationship with a female adviser.
So, if a predominantly male client base might have created a predominantly male advice industry, I wonder if this situation might be salvageable.
CoreData research shows that something like 35 per cent of women say they feel financially insecure, while only 20 per cent of men say the same thing. This suggests there’s a need for more advice services directed at women, and it may be that female planners are well placed to provide those services.
At the recent SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA) National Conference, Olivia Maragna and Patricia Curtin gave a compelling presentation on why women make ideal financial planning clients. Coincidentally, Maragna is featured in the following story.
Maragna and Curtin said that women are more loyal as clients than men are, they’re better than men for referrals – and the referrals are “warmer” (more likely to convert to actual clients). And if you switch advice firms, a female client is more likely than a male to follow you to your new employer.
So if I’m right, and if there’s a demand for financial planning services for women, if women generally make great clients, and if women are more likely to seek out other women to get advice from, it seems the stage is set. All that remains now is to convince more women to pursue a career in financial planning. Read about Australia’s top-three financial advisers – they are outstanding role models.
