What women want, financially

March is a significant month in many ways but none more so than for celebrating International Women’s Day and observing how women can empower and support one another through differing life experiences.

Significant life experiences could be starting a first job, purchasing a property, getting married, starting a family or facing a difficult divorce. With each life experience we meet many professional people along the way, these include lawyers, accountants or mortgage advisors with whom the relationship can be merely transactional.

As a woman moving through life’s journey, who you meet and engage with becomes more prevalent especially when making long term financial decisions or setting financial goals.

Female financial life patterns

The truth is that women often have different financial life patterns, and what is a clear pathway for our male counterparts is simply different for women. Career breaks to start a family and potentially returning part-time for several years thereafter could mean lower earnings and lower pension pots in later life, despite the longer life expectancy.

Until recently, it wasn’t uncommon for the wife/partner to be unaware of the family’s financial position as the finances were dealt with by the husband/partner. This is in part due to the financial services sector historically targeting male clients.

Female financial empowerment

The good news is that there is progression – this narrative is becoming increasingly uncommon as we see more females entering the work force for longer and in many cases, building successful careers around family life.

Female entrepreneurs are shaping our societies and communities like never before.

It is expected over the coming decades the “wealth transfer” through career advancement, entrepreneurship, inheritance and divorce will mean the client landscape across member firms could look very different.

Why women’s finance is different

Ultimately, women want their finances to be serviced differently. They need their advisor managing their affairs to fully understand their personal situations in much more granular detail – women often invest with goals in mind rather than products – simply, they aim for financial independence. Their risk appetite can also be viewed differently as women can generally be labelled as more risk averse when it comes to investing.

The professional relationships women seek are not transactional, they desire long term, open and trustworthy advisor relationships that they go on to treat as close personal friendships. In short, women don’t want special treatment, they are simply asking for investment advice that reflects their financial expectations, goals and communication preferences.

Consolidation within our sector means Wealth Management firms with large client banks can struggle to service their clients which could mean that their service level is not as their costs dictate, teams of advisors rarely integrate easily into one new large-scale business due to differences in culture, investment processes and expertise

The sector is also experiencing older generations of advisers retiring. Younger advisers aren’t coming through the ranks to fill the void, and numbers suggest that there are also less woman entering the sector.

Overall, this begs the question who you should turn to for expert advice in this shrinking marketplace.

What makes ASAM different

Here at Anderson Strathern Asset Management we manage the finances of many different clients, including families, corporates, charities and trusts. Our team is well placed to service all clients across a wide spectrum including bespoke clients.

Our Head of Financial Planning Anna Gratwick understands only too well the pressures of leading an expert team of advisers while juggling a young family and home life. Arlene Ewing, our new Managing Director brings first-hand experience across the investment industry of dealing with female entrepreneurs, high net worth clients and these different investment propositions.

Together, and with the support of the entire Anderson Strathern Asset Management team, we continue to grow our client base from both our internal and external networks of professional clients and their clients offering a wide range of services. As ASAM is wholly owned by Anderson Strathern LLP we can offer expertise across the both the law firm and investment business providing a full portfolio of services to our clients ensuring a holistic approach in your life journey.