New stats show LGBT investors aren't seeking LGBT advisors
New stats on the LGBT community show financial advisors are missing out on a profitable demographic.
A UBS Investor Watch report, released Monday out of New York City, revealed that LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered) investors are not on the lookout for LGBT advisors (only 18 per cent of those surveyed have one). Meanwhile, they are more optimistic than other investors about their personal finances (67 per cent versus 57 per cent in the long-term and 63 per cent versus 49 per cent in the short-term respectively).
In Canada, 33 per cent of LGBT individuals have an annual income of more than $100,000, and their total before-tax income amounts to about $98 million, or 7.3 per cent of the GDP, according to a 2012 study by Protean Strategies.
“In most cases you will have two individuals who are earning a lot of income because they don’t have kids,” said Kenton Waterman, a financial consultant with Investors Group Financial Services, Inc., who serves Toronto’s LGBT Community. “Most people are single … unless they plan on adopting after marriage.” (continued on page 2.)
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Their high income translates into the average LGBT consumer having about 22 per cent more spending power than the average Canadian – a hot prospect for banks, which are ceasing the opportunity to attract this demographic, through advertising and event sponsorship.
“Downtown on Church Street, all the banks are starting to move in there to take their share of the market,” says Waterman. “They (LGBT investors) are sticking with their own banks. That’s what I see around.”
But according to Jennifer Maier, an advisor with Perler Financial Group - which services many of Vancouver’s LGBT community - discrimination is one of the main reasons LGBT clients struggle to find a financial advisor.
"My experience is that same-sex couples have a higher chance of encountering a negative reaction from people in the financial industry,” explains Maier. “First of all, because you’re dealing with money, but also there is still a lot of prejudice in our society.”
Waterman disagrees.
“There’s no discrimination ... not that I've noticed,” he says. “The banks love clients.”
