Women are more likely than men to hire a financial adviser, yet they don’t receive the same wealth-management advice as their male counterparts.
In spite of the fact that women are more likely than men to hire a financial adviser, studies have shown that women are also more inclined to express misgivings about the advice they are receiving.
That may help explain why nearly two-thirds of women were willing to consider switching to a new adviser, versus less than half of men, according to a 2017 study from accounting firm EY.
Generally, advisers more commonly recommended that women have more liquidity, fewer actively manage funds and less exposure to international assets, as compared with men.
Men and women may indeed have different priorities for their money, based on anecdotal evidence provided by financial advisers surveyed by MarketWatch.
“On average, women typically have higher risk aversion as well as less investing experience,” said Amy Hubble, founder and principal adviser of Radix Financial, an investment management firm based in Oklahoma City.
“This stereotype presumably leads advisers to make the representative mistake of recommending a lower risk strategy for a woman than a man in similar circumstances,” she added.
Generally, advisers more commonly recommended that women have more liquidity, fewer actively manage funds and less exposure to international assets, as compared with men.
New research suggests that may be changing. When comparing the advice given to hypothetical female clients to their hypothetical male peers, a team from Morningstar Research found no significant difference in asset allocations.
“Our results suggest that advisers make unbiased asset-allocation decisions when they’re given equivalent information, but prior research shows that bias does seem to appear in asset allocations,” the researchers wrote. “One source of this problem might be the information-gathering process in initial meetings.”
The researchers gave different prospective client scenarios to 232 advisers who used one of Morningstar’s adviser software packages with different prospective client scenarios including age, amount of assets, income, risk tolerance and retirement goals.
Still, other research has shown that female clients are asked about their personal and financial information less often than their male counterparts.
“If advisers don’t collect the same amount of information from women than they do from men, this can create two different biases,” Morningstar behavioral scientist Ray Sin wrote in the report. “Women might think their advisers are uninterested in them or misunderstanding their needs because the adviser isn’t considering their complete financial situation.”
Or, worse, “women will get biased asset-allocation recommendations because the adviser is working with incomplete information,” they added.
Also see: This one thing is making Americans less satisfied with their finances
Much of the onus in solving this issue rests with financial advisers and asset managers. Until that happens, women investors can take matters into their own hands. Here are some tips in detecting this kind of financial bias:
Find out how the adviser treats new clients
As the Morningstar report demonstrated, the onboarding process may be the root cause for biased financial advice. Therefore, it’s important first to establish that the adviser has a standard process in place, said Rene Bruer, co-chief executive officer at Smith Bruer Advisors in Tallahassee, Fla.
Consumers should get a sense of what information the prospective adviser will ask for including what questions they will ask about financial goals. They should also look out for red flag. For example, if a husband and wife visit a new adviser together to get a retirement fund set up for the wife, they should pay attention to whether the adviser addresses both members of the couple when asking questions to open an account or simply defers to the husband.
After that, Bruer suggests that investors compare the processes from multiple advisers. “Step back and take the time to meet with a couple of people,” he said. “An adviser should give you time once you’ve had that initial meeting. You should not be pressured.”
Redirect the focus to your risk tolerance
Taking charge of the conversation is one way of ensuring that an adviser is putting your individual needs ahead of any preconceived notions they may have previously held.
This is especially important when it comes to risk tolerance, given how biased advice often pushes women toward less-risky and passive investments even when they may otherwise prefer a more aggressive or active approach.
“Direct the conversation,” said Tracey Ann Gordineer, a certified financial planner with Paramount Investment Advisors in Gainesville, Ga. It’s the adviser’s responsibility “to strike that balance between the client risk tolerance and how the portfolio needs to be allocated to meet their goals.”
Read more: Married men earn more than everyone else (including married women and single men)
Be skeptical of the advice you receive
To ensure you’re receiving the best possible advice, investors should be prepared to ask why an adviser is proposing a certain plan of action.
“If you don’t understand your adviser’s response, don’t assume the problem is with you,” said Lauren Zangardi Haynes, a certified financial planner with Spark Financial Advisors in Richmond, Va.
If an adviser can’t explain their reasoning, that’s enough justification to cut and run.
Ask the firm if you can see a female adviser
Dede Jones, managing director of Innovative Financial, an investment advisory practice based in Lakewood, Colo., has a more straightforward solution: “One way to avoid this bias is to work with a female advisor.”
Unfortunately, this may be easier said than done. Fewer than one in four certified financial planners are women.
If there are no female advisers, Jones suggests being direct and to the point with prospective male advisers. Ask the question, “If I were a man, how would your recommendation be different?”
How that adviser responds, she said, could be telling.
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