Affluent Investors Are Increasingly Willing to Pay for Advice: Cerulli

News September 30, 2024 at 12:53 PM
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The demand for paid financial advice is on the rise among investors with at least $250,000 in investable assets, with a growing number of both men and women expressing a willingness to pay for these services. 

The percentage of men interested in paid financial advice increased from 58% to 63% between 2020 and 2023, according to the Cerulli Edge — U.S. Retail Investor Edition. During the same period, the percentage of women interested in paid advice grew from 52% to 61%.

The research finds differences in the preferences and priorities of men and women. For example, women are more likely to say that their financial advisor was recommended by their employer's retirement plan or a family member, while men are more likely to seek advice from the type of institution they think will yield the best investment performance.

"There are key differences in marketing to clients of different ages and investable assets, and appealing to both men and women sometimes also requires different acquisition strategies," John McKenna, a research analyst at Cerulli, said in the statement. "As women take on more financial decision making, either independently or on behalf of their families, having a multi-faceted approach to client acquisition can be a major advantage in both attracting new customers and keeping clients' families in the fold."

While both men and women tend to prefer full-service brokerage firms — 42% of both male and female respondents said this — the Cerulli data shows that women are slightly more likely than men to choose banks as their primary financial provider (28% vs. 24%). Eleven percent of women and 12% of men said they would prefer an independent financial planning company or RIA.

In addition, a higher percentage of women report a high degree of reliance on their financial advisors, with 50% of women saying they rely heavily on their advisors, compared with just 34% of men.

"Investors are increasingly becoming aware of the complexity of the decisions they face in charting their financial futures, and many realize that having a trusted advisor can help them both better pursue their long-term goals and worry less along the way," Cerulli said in a statement. "However, advice providers will need to account for the at times different preferences among men and women when targeting affluent clientele."

— With assistance from Edisource.

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