The financial services industry has a long way to go in providing the kinds of services wealthy women say they want, according to new research by Family Wealth Advisors Council, a national network of independent, fee-only wealth management firms.
The results come from a study of high-net-worth American women titled "Women of Wealth: Why Does the Financial Services Industry Still Not Hear Them?" The first round of findings, released Tuesday, looks at what worries wealthy women.
Among the findings:
- 86% of working women surveyed consider obsolete careers and eroding earning power as risks to their financial success. The majority of female successful executives anticipate a major career change within the next year;
- Married women believe health challenges present a greater risk to their financial security than the death of a spouse;
- 96% of women want their unique circumstances and their entire life picture understood by their financial advisor;
- 80% of women (either married or divorced) believe that they will be called on at some point to help one or more of their children in a crisis;
- 81% of retirees see a potential decline in the economy as a major risk, versus 45% of full-time working women;
- 57% of married women feel that divorce poses a significant risk to their financial well-being.
A second round of results, expected to be released late in the first quarter, will consider the needs of married and unmarried executive-level working women, said Eileen O'Connor, the study's co-author along with Heather Ettinger, in a telephone interview with AdvisorOne.
The overall study, conducted last year between March and August, involved 551 women across the U.S. with a net worth of $1 million or more, and tracked the statistical differences across marital status, employment status, age and net worth.
Today, women are building and inheriting more wealth than men. As their economic clout in the workplace and purchasing power in all consumer and commercial markets increases, their dissatisfaction with the financial services industry is also growing. The results released Tuesday showed that women do not like to be considered a monolithic group, but want services tailored to their specific circumstances.
