Banks miss $10t wealth opportunity by neglecting affluent women clients

Lack of women advisors and male-focused wealth servicing is hurting wealth managers’ long-term strategies.

Women will be at the forefront of health management over the next 20 years but are still less likely to work with wealth managers, presenting a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity for financial advisors, according to McKinsey & Company.

Affluent women are expected to inherit up to $105t over the next 20 years in the US and Europe alone, according to McKinsey experts Alex Panas and Axel Karlsson, citing a report by Fortune.

This presents an opportunity of about $10t by 2030 for wealth managers.

In the US and EU, for example, women currently control about a third of all retail financial assets. The share is expected to rise to 40% to 45% by 2030.

Despite their growing affluence and financial confidence, however, women remain less likely than men to work with wealth managers, McKinsey found. They estimate that over 53% of assets controlled by women are unmanaged, compared to 45% in men.

Unique financial behaviors and preferences of affluent women include a preference for in-person financial advice that correlates closely with age.

In Europe, for example, the share of women who prefer in-person advice rise with age, with 1 in 3 (35%) of 18- to 35-year-old women saying this, compared to 1 in 2 (50%) of those over 60 years old.

In the United States, women over 50 are more willing than younger women to pay a premium for in-person service.

Affluent women prefer stable investments and focus on the long game, according to McKinsey.

“[Women] tend to adopt a measured and cautious approach to investing that prioritizes long-term financial security,” it said.

Affluent women also tend to focus on achieving specific goals, rather than reaping the highest returns, according to McKinsey.

Ways that wealth managers fail to reach affluent women include a lack of women representation in the adviser pool.

“Teams that include women and members of other underrepresented groups are seen as better able to retain female clients during major life events such as divorce or widowhood, key moments at which women are most likely to switch advisors,” McKinsey found.

Women only make up 23% of the advisor pool in the US and 18%-20% in Europe.

Wealth managers also still have the tendency to focus on men as their primary clients, and neglect to build one-on-one relationships with their male clients’ spouses.

“This approach can make it difficult to retain women as clients after a divorce or the death of the husband,” McKinsey warned.

Wealth managers also struggle to connect with younger generations, with executives reportedly describing younger women as “especially hard to reach.”

“Firms that fail to reach younger women risk missing the opportunity to build long-term relationships with female clients that will endure as their wealth grows and their circumstances evolve,” McKinsey said.