New research from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards shows that female advisors who obtain CFP certification benefit more from the credential than their CFP male counterparts.
At a time when wealth management firms must differentiate from competitors and digital investment management providers with personalized services centered on financial planning, the CFP board said credentialed female professionals are uniquely qualified to accelerate the transition to a focus on holistic advice aligned to clients' goals.
The research was based on an Aite Group survey of 400 U.S. financial advisors conducted in the third quarter of 2019 and on a follow-up survey of 122 advisors fielded by the CFP board to its contact base to increase the sample size of female advisors.
The survey included 80 female CFP professionals and 54 female advisors without CFP certification. The analysis also compared the female CFP professionals with 186 male CFP professionals.
Women's Leadership
The CFP board, citing research from Merrill Lynch, found that women who work with a female advisor are more comfortable discussing financial topics than women who work with a male advisor.
It said efforts to increase the representation of credentialed, client-facing female advisors are critical to retaining baby boomers' assets — financial advisors have a poor record of retaining widows' assets — and to appeal to millennial women, more of whom manage their finances alone than do older generations.
