Edward Jones Canada spokespeople offer insights into industry's progress, how much more needs to be done
Wealth Professional hosted the annual Women in Wealth Management Summit earlier this week in Toronto, with hundreds of female industry leaders gathered to discuss topics ranging from the intergenerational wealth transfer, to the taboos around wellbeing, to the role advisors can play in succession planning.
At the day’s first panel discussion, leaders from Edward Jones Canada — the event partner for the summit — discussed the value and importance of building financial resilience among women. Women are projected to control $4 trillion by 2028, they tend to live longer than men, they offer different perspectives for advisors to consider, and face different challenges they need help from their advisors to overcome.
“The wealth transfer is hitting women more than anyone, as they’re likely to have two wealth transfers in their lives, due to the increasing frequency of divorce and, on average, experiencing the loss of a partner later in life,” says Moira Klein-Swormink, Principal, Wealth Management at Edward Jones Canada. “We know that women on some level are going to start managing more and more wealth, the number that’s been quoted in the industry is $4 trillion by 2028. That’s not insignificant. As a result we need to start thinking about how we build their confidence, their resilience, and how we understand how they think about financial wellbeing and financial freedom.”
Klein-Swormink highlighted that Canadian women tend to live on average four years longer than Canadian men. As well, retired Canadian women are four times more likely to be widowed than Canadian men. 21% of Canadian women will act as caregivers later in life, while only 11% of men will. These are numbers that advisors need to be aware of both to better help prepare their female clients for later stages in life, and because 80% of widows change their advisor within 12 months of losing their partner.
Klein-Swormink highlighted that meeting the hard challenges women face means understanding some of the stated and unstated roles women play in their families and social networks. She cites a McKinsey study that says female decision makers tend to have lower risk tolerances, be more focused on life goals, and place a greater emphasis on personal fit with their advisor. Klein-Swormink also notes that women investors are 2.5 times more comfortable taking investment advice from women.
Creating greater financial resilience among Canadian women, therefore, relies on encouraging more women to become advisors. While the energy and willingness to improve the place of women in the industry at the event was inspiring for Klein-Swormink, she was surprised that the industry is not as far along in this process as she had thought. Across the industry around 17% of women are advisors, and 25% of Edward Jones Canada advisors are women, but there is so much further for this industry to go. Klein-Swormink says that as important as conversations are in moving this subject forward, action is going to be absolutely key.
In her own work with Edward Jones, Klein-Swormink says she will continue to support the success of other women. She is planning to make a concerted and disciplined effort to find specific areas that can make transformational growth for individuals and whole groups in the industry. Within that work, too, is a focus on personal wellbeing and growth. Klein-Swormink says she wants to focus somewhat on her own growth so she can continue to be a role model.
Coming out of the event, Klein-Swormink says she hopes the energy generated in that room and through those conversations can make a real difference in the lives of women investors, and the place of women advisors in this industry.
“Events like this give you a boost. What I’m noticing is the energy around the opportunity we know exists for women in wealth management,” Klein-Swormink says. “You can sense a movement underway and conviction around the way we need to talk about this. We can open a dialogue, make this industry more inviting, and help build women’s confidence in this space.”
