Wealthy wives want equal treatment from advisers

Married wealthy women want to be treated as equal partners in terms of financial decisions when they meet with financial advisers, according to a study from Mintel International Group Ltd. released exclusively to InvestmentNews. The data showed that 81% of high-net-worth women were married, and most made their financial decisions in tandem with their husbands. Most were employed full time or were self-employed, and the majority had at least an undergraduate degree. In the study, 78% of the women were confident about making financial decisions, though younger high-net-worth women appeared to be decidedly more comfortable with financial decisions than women 45 and older. High-net-worth women who are married tend to share decision-making responsibilities with their husbands, the study suggested. "I was really interested to see how confident women are," said Susan Menke, Chicago-based senior financial services analyst for Mintel, which is based in London. The online study, conducted in March, surveyed 250 high-net-worth women 18 and older with more than $500,000 in investible assets, excluding their primary residence. "You have to be careful," Ms. Menke said. "They don't see themselves as just wives and mothers, but they see themselves as the roles they've accomplished with their careers." The study also showed that 72% of the high-net-worth women 18 to 44 were holding down full-time jobs or were self-employed full time. Another 12% worked part time. The study showed that 82% of the women attributed their wealth to hard work. If advisers treat women differently then they do men, it may come across as condescending, Ms. Menke said. Women prefer to make decisions themselves, and it is important that advisers approach them in a way that allows them to feel that they have control over their decisions, she said. Even though just 17% of the women surveyed said they had worked with an adviser, 10% said they'd had a bad experience, the study showed. This means that advisers need to work closely in a partnership with both spouses, Ms. Menke said. "Advisers need to position themselves as a partner," she said. "Let the clients know that you realize they're very busy and don't have time, and that you can make the decision for them because they don't have the time." Women consider a marriage a partnership, and even if they aren't the breadwinners, they want to be treated as partners in financial decisions, said Barb Charal, a Northbrook, Ill.-based investment adviser with Genworth Financial Investment Services Inc. of Schaumberg, Ill. The firm is a subsidiary of Richmond, Va.-based Genworth Financial Inc. "Women tend to think they're entering more of a partnership today," Ms. Charal said. "I've had a good handful of people who come in and said they walked out of a financial planner's office because the woman felt like he was only addressing the man." Even if the breadwinner is the husband, the wife wants to be treated as an equal partner, she said. "If the woman's at home running the house, sometimes people don't address them as if they control half of the money. A lot of the times, they're making most of the decisions," Ms. Charal said. "You have to make sure both people are involved in the process," she said.
Meanwhile, women have switched advisers simply to find one with whom they feel comfortable, said Pat Bell, a wealth management adviser and senior vice president in Short Hills, N.J., with New York-based Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. She manages about $500 million in assets. Ms. Bell had a client approach her firm and say that he had been through 10 investment advisers in the past 25 years because his wife hadn't been comfortable with any of them. Ms. Bell set down individually with the wife for an hour-long meeting, and she has now worked with the couple for 10 years. Sometimes body language as subtle as eye contact during a meeting with an adviser can send a signal to the woman, and she might not feel included if the adviser looks only at her husband. "When I bring in outside specialists, the first thing I tell them is to make sure when you're explaining things, that your eye contact is equally divided between both of them," Ms. Bell said. E-mail Lisa Shidler at lshidler@investmentnews.com.