Women are becoming more financially savvy about their investments but want advisers to do more to appeal to their needs.
According to Sara Wilson, head of platform proposition for the Embark Group, women with a measure of financial stability and independence are showing far more confidence when investing and managing their portfolios than traditionally has been thought.
But despite these more affluent women appearing to be more proactive on their investment decisions and more choosy about their financial advisers, Wilson said there was still a stark need for better financial advice for women.
Her comments came as a survey of 750 investors, male and female, revealed positive signs among women that they are taking their financial futures into their own hands, although they felt the advice industry needed to do more to appeal to female investors.
The research, carried out by Censuswide for the Embark Investor Confidence Barometer, looked at participants with a minimum of £100,000 investable assets, a pension, and who were aged between 35 and 70.
It found that 70 per cent of women, advised and unadvised, knew how much they needed to meet their retirement plans, were currently saving enough, and felt they could stop working when they wished.
This compared with 63 per cent of men who said they were confident they were saving enough to meet their retirement goals.
Wilson said: “There are headlines encouraging women to be more confident investors, but our findings paint a picture of positivity among women.
"Of course, we are mindful of our participants here – everyone surveyed has significant investable assets and a pension – so a degree of confidence might be expected. However, the results may challenge some perceptions."
Women were also more likely than men to make changes to their investment portfolio based on their outlook on equity markets.
More than half (55 per cent) of women said their short-term view on equity markets had led them to change their investment approach in their portfolio, compared with 45 per cent of men.
Non-advised women were also far more likely than men to seek financial advice, whether for retirement purposes, following a change in financial circumstances such as a divorce or job loss, and in the event of a market crash.
Some 70 per cent of women said they would seek advice ahead of or during retirement, compared with 50 per cent of men, while 67 per cent of non-advised women would seek advice due to a change in circumstances compared with 37 per cent of men.
However, two-thirds of women without an adviser (66 per cent) and 61 per cent of women with an adviser agreed that financial advisers need to do more to make their services appeal to female investors.
This was particularly the case for women in the age bracket 35-44, suggesting expectations may be different for younger generations.
The changes that women would like to see:
