Women are half of the world’s population and, they want different things from advice.

Holly Mackay is the CEO and founder of Boring Money – an independent research and publishing house that helps people make smart investment decisions quickly and painlessly.

She shares her views on the power of empathy in financial planning, bridging the gender gap and the importance of trust between advisers and their clients.

Emotions are everything, they’re the catalyst for us caring about our finances and making important decisions. They’re our reason why. Whether it’s the wedding of a loved one, the thrill of picking up the keys to your first flat, or finally planning that walking holiday in retirement, our emotions drive us.

The role of the planner is to in some way be the shield to those emotions, the head to the heart, to make sure that we’re not just planning for the short term but for the long term as well. Advisers are there to protect us from ourselves in controlling our emotions. They can make those cooler decisions that are better for us in the long term, because they’re less emotionally bought in to our circumstances.

Although one thing we could do, is become more aware of our client’s circumstances. We can achieve this by taking the time to ask questions about them and understand that why. Why is someone thinking about money today? It’s not because they woke up and suddenly thought it was interesting, it’s because something is going on in their lives that’s worrying them. Taking the time to find out what’s troubling someone and showing empathy, is a skill that’s important for us all. Especially when it comes to putting more women in contact with financial advisers.

We know that in this industry, there are gender gaps. We can sometimes be in danger of putting all women into one category, as if they’re a niche segment. But women are half of the world’s population and, they want very different things in advice. We’ve found that there are two instances where women have come to us, often looking for a female adviser. The first is if they’ve had a bad experience in the past, where they’ve been talked down to or patronised. The second is if they’re going through a divorce and are seeking out empathy, which they think they’ll find more with a female adviser. This shows there are some life events in particular where women are looking for an adviser and, we could be doing more to help them in their search.

When people are looking for an adviser, they want to gain a sense of who they are as a person. They want to read what advisers have written, they want to find out if they’re a decent person, if they’re someone they can trust. So, finding the right balance between evidencing strong technical competence and empathy is vital for clients. Because what people are looking for in an adviser, is as much about the emotional connection than it is any letters of acronyms after their name.        

To find out more about Holly connect with her on LinkedIn.

Canada Life has researched the psychology of long-term thinking and the role of the adviser to Read their latest research.

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