Well-off Gen Y women a good financial advice market

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The rise of the younger, more affluent woman may present a golden opportunity for financial advisers looking to diversify their current client base.

Sarah Riegelhuth, senior strategic financial adviser with Wealth Enhancers, said she has seen a considerable increase in the number of so-called young "professional women" actively seeking financial advice in the past two years.

She said the clients she deals with in this space earn on average $140,000 or more.

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According to the Westpac Report on Women's Finances by Generation, generation Y (Gen Y) women in general are more focused on their financial situation than past generations.

From a survey of 300 respondents, 18 per cent of Gen Y women were likely to save 20 per cent of their income per month, compared to 8 per cent of generation X (Gen X) and 9 per cent of baby boomers.

In addition, 53 per cent of Gen Y women felt to some extent that they needed to delay starting a family due to financial pressures, followed by Gen X (30 per cent) and baby boomers (15 per cent).

Experience Wealth director Steve Crawford said developing more meaningful services for young, wealthy women was a unique proposition for any adviser looking to build on their client base.

"It's more to do with the fact these women don't want to be financially dependent on a man," he said.

Crawford - who currently works with female professionals aged between 25 and 45 and earning upwards of $150,000 - added that many of his female clients have investment properties and will often own them before they find a partner. 

"Even the ones that are coming in with their partners - they are the ones that have instigated the investment process."

Louise Lakomy, principal of investment advice at Yellow Brick Road, said she provides services to young, wealthy single females from divorced situations, which she said are more prevalent today than they were 10 years ago.

Single professional females in particular will actively seek advice and engage more in the planning process than a young male with a similar amount of wealth, Crawford added.

"Combine that with relationships I've seen where females tend to earn more money than their male partners, it's just logical that if they're the decision-makers, they're the ones that are more open to conversation, they're the ones that are earning equal or more money. There's so many reasons to target and build your offer around them," he said.

According to Riegelhuth, word-of-mouth referrals are really important for this segment, as most of them will want a more holistic advice model that focuses "less on numbers and delves deeper into their personal goals and real desires for their life".

In addition, most women in this market will tend to avoid planners with a "sales-type" model and prefer to build what they feel to be a more genuine relationship with a potential adviser, she added.