Thursday
January 2
2020

Women in financial services are tackling an underserved market: themselves

Financial services for women have historically been abysmal. Management consulting firm Oliver Wyman has called women its “single largest underserved group of customers.” According to a recent report financial services firms—those in banking, insurance, and wealth/asset management—are leaving $700 billion in revenue on the table by using assumptions that are built around men’s careers and not offering solutions that address the realities of women’s lives. Women invest less than men and have lower retirement savings, even though they live longer on average. They also have less access to capital, fewer financial rights, and end up poorer as a result.

But the landscape is changing: The number of women-owned businesses in the United States increased by 21% over the past five years, and women are approaching the majority of the country’s college-educated labor force. In this new paradigm, women no longer have to wait for the existing financial services industry to become more equal. They’re doing it themselves.

“As we observe the shift in women becoming primary breadwinners and sharing equal financial responsibilities, we see more women taking the initiative,” says Natalie Jaeger, director of growth marketing at Zoe Financial, a company that connects financial advisors and clients and targets women in its marketing to both.

 

Source: Quartz (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Finance
Tags
financial inclusion