I was interested to read an article last week reporting that women find financial services ‘aggressively masculine’.
This was according to the recent ‘Winning over Women’ report by Kantar.
The report sought the views of 30,000 women and found that they are deterred from seeking advice or buying financial products as a result of feeling put off by ‘arrogant and untrustworthy’ advisers.
Even at the advertising and marketing stages of interaction, financial advisers are apparently failing to communicate the values of ‘trustworthiness, dependability and understanding’, that the report found to be important to female clients.
Despite women being increasingly in charge of day to day household finances, investments and pensions – it is still seen as a man’s domain with only 38% of women feeling in control of their financial future as opposed to 51% of men.
Kantar research suggests that if financial services companies could better engage with women, the market could be worth up to £133 billion.
Many women are so discouraged that their money remains in their bank account.
It is astonishing to read that the report uncovered an instance where a male mortgage broker spoke only to the man during an appointment with the husband and wife and ultimately the wife prevented the sale from going through as a result.
One solution to the issues raised in the report is for more women to be encouraged into the field of financial services. The benefits of an increased number of women in the workplace would mean that female clients would feel that their voices and goals are heard and understood.
Something that we are particularly proud of here at Informed Choice is the number of women represented within the firm particularly on our board of Directors where three women take prominent roles, with only two men on the board.
At Informed Choice we are a family run business with a reputation of being friendly and approachable.
We are experienced with working with clients at times when they may be particularly vulnerable, such as when facing a divorce or a bereavement and as a result we have created a culture of honesty and trust.
These values are important to us and reflected in everything we do right down to our marketing and within every interaction with our clients.
We are proud to engage with every member of the household during the decision making process when it comes to planning for your financial future.
The Kantar report might have identified widespread issues with how women experience financial services; it certainly isn’t the experience female clients experience with us here at Informed Choice.
