News Briefs: Affluent Women
Affluent Women Let Down
10/24/2006

Financial seminars and newsletters disappoint.

Affluent women are generally pleased with their financial advisors, but many are disappointed by the advisors’ newsletters and seminars, according to a new survey published by the Spectrem Group. While 70 percent of women were satisfied with their primary advisor, fewer than 3 in 10 women rated financial newsletters (25 percent) and seminars (28 percent) as “excellent.”

Affluent women were most satisfied with direct contact and the opportunity to meet other firm advisors, according to the report Affluent Women. Almost all of the women surveyed, 98 percent, rated their face-to-face meetings as excellent or satisfactory. Nearly as many, 90 percent, favorably rated their access to firm experts. Meanwhile, 23 percent considered their advisor’s use of newsletters as a communication tool as poor, and even more, 35 percent, considered their use of seminars as poor.

Affluent women listed knowledge about wealth management (99 percent) and understanding of personal goals and issues (97 percent) as important factors in selecting an advisor. Least important was the availability of online services, with only 32 percent identifying that as an aspect of their decision.

The Spectrem Group is a consulting firm specializing in the affluent and retirement markets. Spectrem questioned more than 1,000 affluent households in the United States for the quantitative portion of the survey.

—Andrew Farrell