Do women prefer to work female advisors?
Whwn it comes to money, do women prefer to work with female advisors?
Not necessarily, according to a report entitled The Financial Lives of Girls and Women. When women seek out advisors, they look for competent firms and shared values. Gender tends to be secondary.
Female advisors may offer common ground and a sense of safety for women investors, but it’s no guarantee the advisor-client relationship will stick.
They may, however, have a better sense of the balls a female client has in the air, advisor Teresa Black Hughes told Advisor.ca. “They understand the way to help women manage stress is to provide clear information about the family goals you’re trying to achieve beyond the numerical aspect.”
But, according to another study, it also depends on the issues at hand.
The truth is that many women, despite strides in education and in the workplace, simply aren’t as confident about financial matters and numbers as men.
After showing women mock advertisements for financial planning services containing math equations—one featuring male advisors, the other female advisors—the women were less likely to do business with the male advisors.
Yet the same ads without math equations prompted no difference in participants’ advisor preference.
“Women don’t think about gender when looking for a financial advisor, but when cues about math and financial abilities are there, concern about being duped will kick in,” explain Kathless Vohs, the study leader.
Assuming you use an advisor, did gender have anything to do with your choice? In your experience, do male advisors understand the financial issues that women face?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
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