Security Benefit COO: There's Potential for Advisers to Work More With Women

Women often feel like the amount of money they have is not worth creating a plan to manage or worth engaging a financial professional to help, according to Jackie Morales, chief operating officer at retirement and insurance firm Security Benefit Life Insurance Co.

But reality is much different from many women’s perspective, according to Morales, which makes them important clients—either existing or potential—for retirement planners. The operations head cites LIMRA research noting that among women who reported receiving financial advisement, 40% said they felt prepared for retirement, compared with 27% of women without an adviser.

“Women think that advice is too expensive,” Morales says.

But that isn’t necessarily the reality, she says, and education around how advisers collect fees, whether based on pay for work or commissions, is important.

“Women want to have products and services explained to them,” Morales believes. “They want to have a relationship with their adviser and for that person to check in regularly with them, whether it’s a female adviser or a male adviser.”

In recent research from IRALogix, women are actually more likely to work with an adviser as compared to men, at a rate of 59% versus 50%. Women also rely more on other resources to learn about investing than men, whether it be podcasts (44% vs. 27%), books (40% vs. 26%) or workplace programs (25% vs.15%), the researchers found.

This backs up Morales’ belief that there is significant opportunity in retirement planning and wealth management to reach female clients.

And that opportunity may be growing in terms of assets to advice on. Citing research from McKinsey & Co., Morales says by 2030, women are predicted to control much of the $30 trillion in financial assets that Baby Boomers will possess.

Yet women are still hesitant in creating a financial plan or seeking out a professional, according to Morales. Research from Morgan Stanley notes that 70% of widows fire their adviser in the first year after losing their partner. To combat that trend, advisers should be working with both partners.

Morales sees retirement income vehicles like annuities as potentially useful for women.

“There are many women that are the primary household income earners, and if something were to happen to them, that’s where annuities play a part, but also life insurance plays a part,” she says. “How are you creating that replacement of income if you are lost? How do you provide for the family?”

Ultimately, in Morales’ view, the biggest concern that women have about retirement planning and financial planning are the same as men’s: dignity in retirement.

“People want to know that they will have enough money when they retire, that they can live the life they want to live and not live with a fear of outliving their assets,” she says. “That’s a real concern.”