In many ways, Sallie Krawcheck said, women are a larger emerging market than China.
Krawcheck, chairwoman of the Ellevate network for professional women, spoke to the crowd gathered on Monday morning in New York for the IMCA 2015 New York Consultants Conference about the significant opportunity available for financial advisors in the largely untapped market that is women.
"What if I told you there's a potential client base that holds a majority of wealth in this country, represents 45% of U.S. millionaires, will inherit 70% of the $41 trillion that enters generational wealth transfer over the next 40 years?" Krawcheck said. "Ninety percent of them control their money on their own at some point in their lives; they represent today 60% of college students and a greater percent of graduate students and still growing. They start more businesses at twice the rate of the rest of the population. They're first-time homebuyers at a greater rate than the rest of the population. They're breadwinners or co-breadwinners in 60% of households, and they live longer than the rest of the population by 6 to 8 years and they're healthier while doing so. You'd say, 'That's one helluva market, Sallie.'"
This potential client base Krawcheck is talking about? It's women.
"Women are huge and they're underserved," Krawcheck said. Adding, "When we step back and think about it, our business is a business by men, for men. I always say here, 'I have nothing against middle-aged white guys. I've been married to a couple of them.' But we're going to have to think differently if we want to attract and approach and engage with this enormous market."
The majority of woman-held wealth is unmanaged, Krawcheck said, pointing to data gathered by weekly polls of the nearly 34,000 professional women that are Ellevate members.
Just 14% of the women in the Ellevate network said the industry meets their needs well, and three-quarters of Ellevate's members do not have a financial advisor.
