To Grow Your Practice, Market to Women

From music (Taylor Swift, Beyonce) to movies (Barbie) to sports (Caitlin Clark) and beyond, women are dominating headlines, influencing American culture and being recognized as key decision-makers.

Companies and advertisers are taking notice.

How come financial planning isn't?

On average, women are the primary household contact for only 41% of financial professionals, and while 54% of affluent men surveyed use a financial advisor, only 41% of women reported using one.

When it comes to running a successful financial management practice, there are three important factors for sustained growth: recruiting new clients, retaining existing clients and identifying opportunities to help those clients with additional products or services.

Recognizing the undeniable influence and economic power wielded by women in today's financial landscape, this traditionally underserved audience can have a huge impact across all three.

As you develop business plans for your practice this year and beyond, here are three reasons why you must view women as critical for the continued growth of your business:

Women control much of the wealth.

According to Harvard Business Review, women represent a growth market larger than China and India combined.

In the United States, women are expected to control much of the $30 trillion in financial assets that baby boomers will possess by 2030. LIMRA figures indicate that 85% of women are either the sole or the joint financial decision-makers in their households.

U.S. women also have a longer life expectancy than their male counterparts, increasing their need for thoughtful long-term financial planning.

Financial professionals who don't recognize these trends and adapt to accommodate them may miss out on significant potential growth.

Women are an underserved market.

While women control a significant amount of wealth, they remain underserved across many financial needs.

Only 18% of women have more than $250,000 saved for retirement in their workplace retirement plan, compared to 25% of men, more than 56 million women are living with an acknowledged life insurance coverage gap, and the average woman needs long-term care services 68% longer than men (3.7 years vs. 2.2).

Women also make up 66% of long-term caregivers, a situation that can be mitigated with the right planning.

There is a real opportunity to help women understand the options available to address these existing gaps. It is important that their unique needs and circumstances are incorporated in the planning, especially when factoring in life expectancy.

Women won't hesitate to make a switch.

According to the CDC, American women have a post-COVID life expectancy of just over 80 years, 5.3 years longer than men. Recognizing and planning for this difference in life expectancy is important when it comes to financial guidance.

When affluent women take over financial decision-making for a household, they typically seek out new wealth management relationships to better suit their needs.

In fact, 70% of women switch their wealth relationship to a new financial institution within a year of their spouse's death.

Women are looking for someone who will take the time to evaluate not only their goals, but also their value systems.

According to LIMRA research, the most important attribute women value in a financial professional is a willingness to educate and explain. Adjusting to women's preferred approach, while challenging for some wealth managers, should ultimately prove beneficial to their business.

Future growth may depend on engaging or consulting with women, particularly the partners of current male clients.

Will you be the wealth management practice they want to leave or the one they want to join?

Recognizing the increasingly pivotal role of women as financial stakeholders and understanding both their preferred approach to financial planning and their unique financial needs will be important for financial professionals to drive sustainable business growth in the years ahead.

Florrie Willis and Brynn McLin are the co-chairs of the Women in Sales Network at Lincoln Financial Group.