What are the most important values women seek in their financial adviser?
With women set to hold 60% of UK wealth by the end of 2025, new research from Unbiased reveals the most important values women want in their financial adviser.
70% of female advice seekers value clear communication from a financial adviser, compared to 61% of men.
Trust is the most important quality both women and men look for when choosing an adviser.
Strong qualifications and independent advisers who are not tied to providers are also a priority among UK women.
Unbiased is the UK’s leading assets under management (AUM) platform, and the biggest source of clients new to financial advice.
Women set to be the UK’s new wealth holders
The Great Wealth Transfer is well underway, and as part of this significant shift in assets, women are poised to be substantial beneficiaries.
As mentioned, according to the Centre for Economic and Business Research, women are expected to hold 60% of the UK's wealth by the end of 2025.
For financial advice firms, connecting with female wealth holders is essential.
To help advisers thrive during the Great Wealth Transfer, Unbiased has conducted extensive research into womens’ relationships with financial advice, including what they look for in a financial adviser.
What are the top qualities women seek in a financial adviser?
The top three values that matter most to women when choosing a financial adviser are trust, independent advice (not tied to providers), and clear and simple communication.
Values that ranked lower than others included online availability, digital services, and proximity to where they live or work.
Below is the list of values in order of importance:
Someone I can trust
Independent advice (not tied to providers)
Clear and simple communication
Understanding of their personal situation
Low cost or good value for money
Strong qualifications or credentials
Close to where I live or work
Available online or through digital services
How do these values compare to what men look for?
While men and women predominantly aligned in what they looked for in a financial adviser, there were a few discrepancies.
Two noticeable differences were in how much they valued strong qualifications and clear communication.
70% of female advice seekers value clear communication from a financial adviser, compared to 61% of men.
Strong qualifications or credentials were a desire for 51% of women, compared to just 42% of men.
Below is the full list of responses from both women and men when asked: ‘What matters to you when choosing a financial adviser?’ Respondents could choose more than one value:
| Responses | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| Someone I can trust | 76% | 76% |
| Independent advice (not tied to providers) | 72% | 67% |
| Clear and simple communication | 70% | 61% |
| Understands my personal situation | 63% | 61% |
| Low cost or good value for money | 55% | 54% |
| Strong qualifications or credentials | 51% | 42% |
| Close to where I live or work | 29% | 32% |
| Available online or through digital services | 26% | 21% |
What does this mean for financial advisers?
For financial advisers, this research provides a unique insight into what women look for when choosing an expert to turn to for financial advice.
Having this knowledge is a powerful tool that advisers can leverage to connect with female wealth holders and bridge the financial gap.
According to Karen Barrett, founder of Unbiased, advisers should highlight their qualifications and prioritise clear communication to help more women seek advice and reach their long-term goals.
“Advisers must ensure these priorities are front and centre if they want to build trust and better engage the next generation of female clients.” - Karen Barrett, founder of Unbiased
Want to work with Unbiased?
Unbiased is an AI-enabled financial advice platform, empowering people to make confident financial decisions and delivering unrivalled growth for advice firms.
With the greatest wealth transfer in history now underway, Unbiased connects people to trusted advice across pensions and retirement, inheritance planning, mortgages, accountancy, and more.
Since 2010, Unbiased has generated over $100 billion in AUM opportunities for financial advisers, with 65% of prospects new to advice. Reaching more than 10 million consumers annually, it is the leading source of client demand in the industry.
Unbiased Pro will help you grow your firm by matching you with suitable clients, delivering them directly to your inbox, and providing you with all the tools you need to convert leads into loyal customers.
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