Are mass affluent women the future of financial planning?

New research from HSBC UK showed that high earning female investors might be shaping the future of financial planning as they are more likely to seek financial advice than male counterparts.

Close to three quarters (71%) of mass affluent women in the UK invest, and more of a third of those (34%) confirm they have sought the services of a regulated financial advisor in order to learn more about growing their wealth. This compares to only 29% of high-earning men who invest.

Although less stark, this trend is also prevalent amongst the broader UK public, where amongst the 30% of women who invest regularly, 1 in 5 has sought out regulated financial advice, compared to only 15% of men.

Female representation in wealth management matters

Women who seek out regulated financial advice are more likely than men to employ the services of a woman – 27% of mass affluent women the financial advisor they engaged with was a woman, vs only 12% of men.

Considering that financial planning and wealth management remains a male dominated industry, with a representation of only 20% women, these numbers indicate that many women are choosing to work with a woman. This is further validated by the fact three quarter (74%) of mass affluent women say that gender representation in the industry is important to them.

Rebecca Owers, Head of Wealth & Specialists at HSBC UK, said: “We are seeing an increase in women looking for regulated financial advice to help support them in building their wealth and meeting their financial goals. Many women want to have access to a person that they feel can relate to them, which is why many have a preference for working with a woman.

“It’s no secret that wealth management is still a male-dominated field. However, we are trying to change that: 40% of our wealth managers are women, which is double the industry average. We know this matters to our customers, and it matters to us too.”

Affluent women have big ambitions with wealth

High earning women have big ambitions for their wealth and plan to grow this by 22% this year – exceeding the 20% target outlined by high earning men.

Women who earn £100,000 a year or more are also more likely than men to consider being, or become wealthy, to be a big priority, with 74% deeming this important compared to 66% of men. In the nationally representative sample, only 43% of women prioritised this, compared to 45% of men.

Only 6% of high earning women admit they don’t invest or save regularly, compared to 8% of high earning men. Two thirds (67%) of affluent women contribute to both cash savings and investments, whilst 23% saved in cash products regularly and 4% prioritised investments.

Despite holding more money in cash savings/ISAs than men, affluent women were broadly on par in terms of portfolio diversification. More than three quarters (77%) held a stocks and shares ISA, 49% held traditional funds or company shares (vs 62% of men), 25% had stakes in real estate (vs 27%), 14% had invested in private equity (vs 14%), 11% in gold or raw materials (vs 19%), 18% in cryptocurrency (vs 22%) and 12% in art and collectibles (vs 13%).

Rebecca Owers added: “High earning women are incredibly ambitious in their drive for financial success and are employing all the tools necessary to meet their long-term goals, including a focus on planning and on portfolio diversification. They’re also very disciplined in their focus on growing wealth and making the sacrifices necessary to get there: one in five overpay on their mortgage and nearly half transfer money into savings and investments on payday. These committed behaviours provide a great foundation for women to continue to financially flourish.”

Media enquiries to:

Leila Taleb
Leila.Taleb@hsbc.com or UKpressoffice@hsbc.co.uk