I used to hear regular moans about events targeting high-net-worth women; high-end events in expensive locations, with high-profile speakers only to find that nothing much has changed beyond the veneer of the event.
Most people, women and men, can see through such efforts and know whether what they are seeing and experiencing is authentic or not.
Cultural change beats training
Some firms have gone down the route of providing training for their male advisers and fund managers as research shows that women feel patronised or totally ignored while conversations are held with their partners.
However, such training will not fix the problem unless there is also an effort to change the wider culture within the firm.
The sticky middle in particular will not shift from its 'this is how we do business here' mindset without a concerted effort to address the male-dominant culture.
Recruiting more women advisers
Other firms are attempting to solve the problem by trying to recruit more female advisers on the premise that:
- Women often prefer a female adviser, mostly because they do not patronise them.
- Women advisers would naturally be more empathic to the needs of women clients.
This works as long as you do not recruit one woman adviser and think you have solved the problem.
Women make up more than 50 per cent of the population but just 16 per cent of financial advisers and 12 per cent of fund managers. So while any effort to increase women advisers is to be welcomed, there also needs to be real commitment and action to increasing the number of women advisers as well senior managers.
I am delighted to see the increase in the number of women in senior roles and women setting up businesses, but IFA businesses have some way to go before they can claim to be gender balanced.
Anna Sofat was founder and chief executive of Addidi Wealth, a women-focused IFA business sold to Progeny. She is currently the chair of One Loud Voice for Women
