Intergenerational wealth transfer an opportunity for gender parity

A new report from industry-led and partner initiative, Future IM/Pact, has highlighted the opportunity presented by the impending intergenerational wealth transfer to achieve gender parity within the wealth sector.

The Women in wealth: The status of gender equality in Australian private wealth firms report suggested that the private wealth sector is lagging behind when compared to the rest of the investment industry, despite it having the “most to gain”.

A previous JBWere report titled The Growth of Women and Wealth also indicated that women are set to inherit over 65 per cent of the forecasted $5 trillion intergenerational wealth transfer in the next ten years.

Future IM/Pact’s report highlighted how women make up 25 per cent of career positions in the advice space, especially at entry level; however, a deeper dive reveals women account for only 19 per cent of advisers and 13 per cent of senior advisers.

Yolanda Beattie, Future IM/Pact’s founder, said female talent retention, promotion and engagement is critical to achieving gender parity in both the sector and in wealth.

“Increasing the number of female private wealth advisers will take bold leadership, a long term commitment, and collaborating across industry to tackle the barriers that stop women from successfully applying for these roles that in many ways are ideally suited to them,” she said.

“Once they overcome the barriers to securing an advice role, female advisers love applying their intellectual curiosity, passion for markets and entrepreneurial ambition to developing deep and lifelong client relationships and making a profound impact on their client’s lives.”

The research, based on Mercer analysis of 630 participants from four wealth firms in advisory and investments as well as one-on-one interviews, found that female wealth-building clients are becoming more prevalent and often favour female advisers due to their interpersonal skills and understanding of perspectives.

“To foster gender diversity in the sector, the industry must build a diverse talent pipeline, champion proactive career planning, strategic hiring practices, robust training programs, and practices that enable women to build fulfilling careers while managing their life ambitions,” Beattie said in the report.

“Senior advisers play a crucial role in sponsoring and advocating for high-potential women in their firms.

“This level of support, which goes beyond mentoring to laying their own reputational and actual capital on the line, can be challenging as it demands a deeper level of trust, self-awareness and commitment from these leaders. However, the upside potential is substantial.

“The senior advisers who do the work to build more diverse teams, will be better positioned to meet the demands of their clients and build a thriving business.

“The nuances of how women network and cultivate connections differ from men, necessitating training and development programs that acknowledge and leverage these differences rather than attempting to fit women into a predefined mould traditionally occupied by men.”