Female advisers lead on intergenerational planning and supporting clients with ESG

The Embark Investor Confidence Barometer has identified that female advisers are more likely to establish connections with clients’ family members than their male counterparts. With the unprecedented wealth transfer between generations expected to take place over the next 25 years, this ability to connect with clients’ family members could be crucial. And, this extends beyond intergenerational planning, with female advisers displaying higher levels of confidence in their ability to support clients’ ESG requirements.

The Confidence Barometer, is a twice yearly survey of 1000 people* conducted by Censuswide for the Embark Group (Embark), a leading UK retirement solutions provider. The survey suggests that hiring more female advisers gives firms a greater chance of building stronger intergenerational connections with clients. Almost three-quarters of surveyed female advisers (74%) believe it is important** to build relationships with clients’ children and grandchildren, compared with just over half of male advisers (53%).

This outlook appears to lead to better results: over a third (37%) of female advisers surveyed said they had established a connection with more than half of their clients’ children. Just a quarter (26%) of male advisers said the same. And, it appears to increase the chances of retaining business from a client’s inheritor when they die: a third (33%) of female advisers said they retain this business for most clients.

The barometer also found that female advisers are more confident than male counterparts in their ability to invest according to clients’ preferences, with 60% of surveyed female advisers confident^† compared to 48% of male advisers. In the evolving ESG investment space, understanding client perspectives is critical, and the survey also found that 67% of female advisers are confident^† that they are aware of their client’s changing needs around ESG compared with 54% of male advisers.

This picture of optimism is also reflected in female advisers’ views for the future, with three quarters surveyed (75%) agreeing^‡ that they are confident the advice market will grow and that they will be able to charge enough in the future. Male advisers were more pessimistic with only 65% agreeing^‡ that they are confident that the advice market will grow and only 53% agreeing^‡ they will be able to charge enough in the years to come. Commenting on these findings, Jackie Leiper, CEO, Embark Group, said:

“These findings illustrate that female advisers have their fingers on the pulse when it comes to some of today’s biggest topics, and is a further nod to the benefits of hiring more female advisers. Emotional intelligence is an area where women generally perform well and are more comfortable tackling emotive topics like ESG, affordability or even ill health, where the discussion is needed most."

Editor's Notes

*Barometer survey details

The Embark Investor Confidence Barometer surveyed the following groups:

• 250 advised consumers (those that have a financial adviser) with a minimum of £100k investible assets, who have a pension and are aged 35-70
• 503 non-advised consumers (those that do not have a financial adviser), with a minimum of £100k investible assets, who have a pension and are aged 35-70
• 251 (18+) financial advisers who have clients, whose company/firm has assets of less than £500 million

** ‘Very important’ and ‘Quite important’ options combined.

^† ‘Very confident’ and ‘Somewhat confident’ options combined.

^‡ ‘Strongly agree’ and ‘Somewhat agree’ options combined.

The survey was conducted by CensusWide: htttps://censuswide.com

To access the full Embark Investor Confidence Barometer, go to: https://embarkgroup.co.uk/embark-investor-confidence-barometer-3/

For further information, please contact:

Quintin Keanie

The Agency Partnership (Embark Media Relations)

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 07880 602902

About Embark Group

Embark Group is a fast growing, diversified, financial services business and one of the leading retirement solutions providers in the UK. The Group trades under the brands Embark, Advance, Horizon, Stocktrade, Vested and The Adviser Centre and operates a wide portfolio of white label services to the Wealth Management, D2C, Robo-Advice, Retail Banking and Workplace markets.

Providing a combination of deep pension expertise and leading technology integration that cover the areas of Investment Platform, Brokerage, SIPP, Multi-Asset Funds, Fund Research and Employee Benefit Consulting, Embark works closely with financial advisers and its intermediary distribution partners to deliver their retail savings and investment propositions to consumers of all levels of affluence.

The Group has more than £37bn in assets under administration on behalf of c354,000 consumer clients, operating across seven UK locations (London, Bolton, Dundee, Edinburgh, Leeds, Leicester and Swindon). Embark has been recognised as one of the most innovative Wealth Tech companies for the past three years.

In January 2022 Embark became part of Lloyds Banking Group, a leading UK based financial services group providing a wide range of banking and financial services.

www.embarkgroup.co.uk