Gender-specific adviser training essential

Traditional planning processes often fail to take into account the psychology and specific needs of women, according to Commonwealth Bank of Australia executive general manager of advice, Marianne Perkovic.

The latest ‘Equity Preference Index' from CFS Global Asset Management (CFSGAM) and the University of Western Australia found that women aged between 35 and 49 are at the highest risk of not meeting their retirement needs.

Perkovic said this is often because women are involved in an advice process that has traditionally been skewed to male investor needs. This is despite women having a longer life expectancy.

"Women overall rate themselves as having lower financial literacy than men — lower financial literacy typically results in a lower appetite for risk," she said.

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This must be seen in the context of rising concerns for females' final superannuation balances, she said.

"One of the issues that comes up a lot of the time is insurance and the ability to have insurance in the family," she said.

According to the index, women tend to rate family financial matters more highly than men and are usually the ones that dominate the actual decision-making at home.

This issue is usually magnified when they make the decision to take time out of the workforce to raise children or tend to other family matters, Perkovic said.

In the ‘Women and Financial Planning' program being piloted by Commonwealth Financial Planning, Perkovic said delivering gender-specific advice allowed financial planners to identify further opportunities.

"Women (in the program) said ‘I could understand the communication better, I felt really comfortable', and we found that it accelerated the decision-making to go ahead with the financial plan," she said.