Gender inequality, unfortunately, is still alive and well in financial services. Women account for two thirds of support positions at advisory firms in the United States but still only 15 percent of executive positions. Factor in that only one third of all financial advisors are women, and our industry is clearly lagging in the area of gender diversity.
Good Life Companies wants this to change. Women advisors come to us to have conversations about culture and diversity long before we discuss transition money. They want to make sure that our organization will be there to support them and their clients as they build a strong and compliant practice. Learn why female advisors are joining Good Life Companies, and get in touch today to learn how we can help you build your dream practice.
Women Face Different Challenges than Men
Add income inequality to the problem. The gender bias in the industry creates a steeper uphill slope for women to climb. Even among support personnel, the wage gap between men and women is nearly 25%, one of the highest in any industry. Men also get promoted to management faster—at an average of 6.6 years compared to 7.4 years for women.
Those numbers are pretty daunting. Sadly, they haven’t improved much in the past decade. In 2008, the wage gap was actually lower than it is today. This may be contributing to the decline in the number of women entering the field. A study conducted by Harvard Business School in 2018 revealed that only 38% of all finance degrees are earned by women.
Not surprisingly, women are also twice as likely to leave a finance career as men. Making less money, burdened by childcare issues, and lacking proper re-entry programs after maternity leave are just a few of the reasons why. Our team here at Good Life understands these challenges, and we’re working to help women take their practices and their pay into their own hands. In fact, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that 25 of the 40 people on our management team are women!
Keeping the Focus on Women in Finance
The gender bias in financial services isn’t limited to just industry insiders. The general public has been fed a stereotype of the “male advisor” since 1792, when the New York Stock Exchange was first established. It’s still happening today. How many of those broker commercials on Superbowl Sunday portray a female advisor? We haven’t seen any.
Good Life Companies is looking to shatter the glass ceiling of gender inequality by empowering women to start their own financial advisory firms. With 75% of our staff female (with 50% of our ownership female and 60% of our executives female), we’re aware of the obstacles women face in the industry and are prepared to help in a number of ways.
Learn more about our Financial Advisor Transition Services.
Events to Empower Women in the Industry
Beyond our full range of services to help establish and support new financial advisor practices, we also encourage our members to attend a number of events to strengthen the community for women within our network.
- Focus on Women. One of the most popular events hosted by our partner, LPL, is “Focus on Women.” This event is open to all female advisors focused on professional development, best practices and networking.
- Women Advisor Leaders Forum. This forum is an opportunity for our top Good Life advisors to discuss business strategies, practice management and growth.
- Business RoundTable Luncheons. These events are often held at conferences to build professional networks.
- Regional Events & Study Groups. These events provide opportunities to learn keys to success and best practices from peers.
Good Life regularly attends conferences that incorporate business round table luncheons to build professional networks. We can also help our members find regional events and study groups. These are opportunities for all advisors to learn keys to success and best practices from their peers. It’s amazing how many new ideas we see because the gender gap has been removed from these sessions.
Women Advisors and Female Clients
Women financial advisors tend to work well with female clients because they understand and empathize with the challenges and life situations women are facing. A man simply cannot walk in a woman’s shoes.
Some female clients even feel like they need women advisors. The gender bias in our industry goes beyond just advisors and support staff. We’ve heard far too many stories of women being “talked down to” by their male financial advisor. That is simply not okay in our book.
There are advisory firms in our network that specialize exclusively in female clients. Niche businesses that service women business owners and female professionals are some of the fastest growing FA firms in the country. If you’re still looking for a business model, this might be something to consider. Women need sound financial advice from other women.
Join Good Life Today
Women come to Good Life seeking a path to independence. Our proven system gives them that. We offer an easy transition and onboarding process to help you establish your practice, followed by a full range of ongoing support services. From practice management and lead generation to advisor training, compliance, and more, we are here to serve as your dedicated partner.
Contact us today
to learn more about how we can help you establish and grow your practice.