gender diversity
Knowing our clients is the best way to retain them, especially when it comes to women and millennials, who together represent over 60% of the adult population, says Barbara Stewart, CFA.
“The big fear society has is your standard of living is going to drop dramatically [in retirement]. And that’s what clients come to you and ask for help on,” says Diane Garnick, chief income strategist and managing director for TIAA (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association). So what does the retirement data say? One of the most worrisome trends is the gender retirement gap.
The global narrative about women and money is changing significantly and for the better. Two major factors have helped to shape this, according to Barbara Stewart, CFA.
Regardless of their age, profession, geographic area, or cultural background, smart women deal with money one way or another everyday, reports Barbara Stewart, CFA. Learn more about her latest research, “How Smart Women Are Managing Their Money in 2017.”
More work needs to be done to close the gender gap across many industries. Raising awareness is one step along this path. On the eve of International Women's Day, Lauren Foster curates career resources to help you progress from "post fear" to the podium.
The biggest factor in attracting female customers involves building trust, says Barbara Stewart, CFA. To do that, leaders need to understand new forms of technology, customized communication, consumer behavior, and also, privacy.
As advisers, our job is not to judge the reasons why our female clients don’t invest — our job is to get them started, says Barbara Stewart, CFA. Why? Because cash is among the lowest performing asset classes over time, and the average female retiree needs to have saved and invested well over $100,000 more than the average man.
It's harder than ever to dispute that more balanced teams deliver better results. But the financial industry still has a ways to go. Lauren Foster provides a list of the top content on the benefits of diversity from 2016.
Women and men want to invest in causes and concerns that matter to them, says Barbara Stewart, CFA. The big opportunity for the financial industry will be to understand these value preferences and to offer the best advice as to how clients can allocate some of these "value investments" via traditional equity markets.
"We all have a responsibility to fill the pipeline." Lauren Foster lists this point and other curated content from the 2016 CFA Institute Alpha and Gender Diversity: The Competitive Edge conference.