Vanguard Debunks Four Myths Advisors Hold About Women Investors
Women are not a footnote in the wealth management conversation, and Vanguard says advisors who treat them that way are in for a world of hurt.
Women are already leading household financial decisions and choosing advisors, a company study found, and as wealth continues to shift into their hands over the coming decade, Vanguard believes their expectations of advice and advisors will rise along with it.
“We as an industry have spent years trying to build confidence in women investors,” said Janel Jackson, head of bank and institutional in Vanguard Financial Advisor Services. “Now, as we’re talking to more women about investing, we’re learning that confidence wasn’t really the issue. Women are confident investors, they’re thoughtful decision-makers, and they’ve been active participants in their financial futures.”
The asset manager’s Women & Wealth Study, conducted with independent research firm 8 Acre Perspective, surveyed 1,602 U.S. investors across asset tiers and life stages to examine how trust and loyalty form between women and their financial providers, and why those relationships often unravel.
The study describes a different reality than the one the industry has assumed.
Myth 1: Women Lack Financial Confidence
Seventy-six percent of women told Vanguard they feel confident making financial decisions. Men came in at 83%, a seven-point spread the industry has long treated as unbridgeable.
Working with an advisor narrows what’s left of that gap, as women who do are nearly three times as likely to describe their own financial knowledge as advanced.
The lift showed up everywhere Vanguard looked: across retirement, portfolio construction and estate planning decisions alike. The fastest way to reach a woman investor, the data suggested, may be proving the value of advice itself rather than spending the first few meetings trying to steady nerves that were never as shaky as assumed.
“Women aren’t looking for advisors to make decisions for them,” Jackson said. “They want to be brought into the process, and they want advisors who are going to help them make better decisions.”
Myth 2: Women Delay Decisions Out Of Fear
More than two-thirds of women said they won’t commit to a financial decision until they’ve seen every option on the table, and 75% described themselves as slow, careful deciders. An industry conditioned to read hesitation as anxiety has called that fear. But Vanguard’s data points to something closer to due diligence, with market and economic conditions cited most often as the reason for taking their time.
And priorities shift as wealth builds. Vanguard found that women’s focus tends to move from protecting what they’ve accumulated toward growing it further as their balances rise. Once they do commit, the follow-through is near total—97% said they stick with the plan after agreeing to it with their advisor.
“The opportunity isn’t to build a different standard of advice for women specifically,” Jackson said of how advisors might change their processes to reflect their client’s behavior. “It’s how do you deliver the fundamentals of being an advisor exceptionally well. Show up as an expert, communicate clearly, collaborate, and respect the client as a capable decision maker, just like you would regardless of gender.”
Myth 3: Women Want Empathy Above Expertise
The data is in, and it says more men want empathy than women.
Just 14% of women ranked empathy among their top two preferred qualities in an advisor, three points less than the 17% of men who said the same. Instead, relationships built on education and collaboration beat it by a wide margin, according to Vanguard’s survey.
The finding is a pointed correction to an assumption baked into a lot of advisor training—that warmth outweighs competence with a woman client. Clear, direct recommendations also outdrew emotional reassurance as a preference, 36% to 15%.
Asked what they valued most in an advisor, women pointed to trustworthiness and financial expertise above all else. Among those who don’t have one, cost, value and fit, not a lack of warmth, ranked as the top reasons for staying unadvised.
“Don’t confuse empathy with the full value proposition,” Jackson said. “Women want an advisor who’s going to listen, who’s going to explain, who’s going to collaborate and be a partner, and who’s going to bring real expertise.”
Myth 4: High Confidence Means Less Advisor Need
Sixty-four percent of the most confident women investors said financial planning is something they enjoy staying hands-on with, not handing off entirely, and that same cohort is an advisor’s best source of referrals, Vanguard found. The truth of the matter is, the survey found, that confident women want more support, and their loyalty is a reflection of their trust.
But the confidence trait does have a sharp edge for advisors. Those women were also the most likely to end an advisor relationship, and women across every confidence level cited a mix of reasons for walking away, a pattern Jackson has already identified as a call to action for the industry.
“It’s a two-way street,” Jackson said. “If women feel like an advisor isn’t acting in their best interest, or the performance and communication aren’t meeting their expectations, and they don’t feel like their advisor is on their team, that’s when the more confident woman investor is going to say, this isn’t working out for me, and I can do better.”
