Financial planning needs to become a more gender-inclusive industry.zak00/Getty Images
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Today marks International Women’s Day and this year’s theme – Inspire Inclusion – is particularly relevant to the financial advisory sector. To forge a more gender-inclusive industry, we must open the door for women to enter a field that would largely benefit from their unique skill set and perspectives.
Women financial advisors have long been underrepresented and progress remains slow. According to a recent report from SLGI Asset Management Inc., women currently represent around 15 to 20 per cent of our industry – a far cry from gender equity, inclusion and balance.
This calls for a shift in thinking, as intuitive insight, relationship-building, connection and trust are some of the key markers of a successful financial advisor – traits many women hold and could further hone, pointing to a natural fit for this role. When we inspire others to value women’s inclusion in financial planning, and when we recruit, retain and develop female talent actively, we can serve Canada’s growing segment of female investors better.
Canadian women are poised to almost double the amount of wealth they control within the next four years to $4-trillion from $2.2-trillion, excluding real estate, the SLGI report states.
As the share of wealth among Canadian women continues to surge, so does their need for personalized advice. Who better to understand a woman’s unique financial needs than another woman? But to serve this increasingly influential segment of Canada’s wealth management sector, we need to build female capacity in the field actively.
Women advisors can bring a unique lens to the profession and can connect differently with their female clients. In fact, research from the Washington, D.C.-based CFP Board shows that a female investor is two-and-a-half times more comfortable taking investment risks with a woman advisor. This speaks to the reality that female investors resonate with a different approach than their male counterparts – there is no copy-paste model in financial planning.
Ultimately, we need advisory teams that mirror the world we live in – one full of diverse people, ideas, skills and abilities. To get there, we must first inspire inclusion.
Christine Van Cauwenberghe is head of financial planning at Winnipeg-based IG Wealth Management.
Must-reads from Globe Advisor this week
Investment industry association changes course as it aims to become the home of independents
The Federation of Mutual Fund Dealers (FMFD) is rebranding and changing its mission to become the home of independent dealers. The rechristened Federation of Independent Dealers will now be a lobbyist and a collaboration forum for independent investment and mutual fund dealers. Previously, the organization worked as a representative body for mutual fund dealers exclusively. The major catalyst for this change is the paradigm shift currently taking place in the investment industry. An increasing number of dealers are looking to obtain dual registration to operate both as an investment dealer and a mutual fund dealer. That includes many of the FMFD’s existing members. Pablo Fuchs reports.
The tax-filing obligations on behalf of a deceased person can be complex and varied
Filing your taxes every year can be a challenge, but filing a person’s final tax return after their passing can be complicated by myriad tax rules – as well as raw emotions and grief. For clients in this predicament, advisors will often refer accountants who specialize in estates to handle the filing of T1 Income Tax and Benefit returns (called final returns) and T3 Trust Income Tax and Benefit returns, which include the income of the estate. There are also optional T1 returns, which can include income owed at the time of death but not yet received, such as dividends from a public or private company. Gillian Livingston has more.
Why this money manager is buying Scotiabank and selling Shopify
Money manager Richard Croft isn’t expecting aggressive interest rate cuts this year but says a few trims should help keep the economy from falling into a deep downturn. “We’re close to a soft landing. The economy is doing okay,” says Mr. Croft, president, chief investment officer and portfolio manager at Croft Financial Group in Toronto, who oversees about $750-million in assets. Mr. Croft anticipates about three interest rate cuts from each of the North American central banks this year and believes they’re more likely to come from the Bank of Canada than the U.S. Federal Reserve Board. “Central banks will be reticent to be too aggressive [with interest rate cuts] or stand on the sidelines too long,” he says. Brenda Bouw asks what he’s been buying and selling.
Your CPP questions answered: Strategies to combine your CPP and OAS benefits
Globe Advisor invited readers to ask questions about their Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits we can then pose to experts to answer. This week, Rona Birenbaum, a certified financial planner and founder of Toronto-based Caring for Clients, answers questions about combining the CPP and Old Age Security benefits. Read more here.
Also see:
After 5 years on the market, advisors are still learning how to use liquid alts
Globe readers debate the right time to take their CPP retirement benefits
What do the CRA’s enhanced mandatory disclosure rules mean for advisors?
Tech stock rally has advisors weighing growth versus dividend strategies for investors
What you and your clients need to know
Women still minority among ranks of managers and entrepreneurs, Chamber of Commerce says
Women are still seriously underrepresented among managers and entrepreneurs, and the problem in Canada is worse than in the United States and many other developed countries, according to a new report from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. The report, called Barely Breaking Ground and published on Tuesday, analyzes Statistics Canada data to measure the gaps women face in wages and in their representation among managers and business owners. Chris Hannay and Mark Rendell have more.
How economists and market bets for rate cuts reacted to Wednesday’s BoC decision
The Bank of Canada kept its key overnight rate steady at 5 per cent on Wednesday as expected and said it was still too early to consider a cut, given the persistence of underlying inflation. The news helped pushed the Canadian dollar up 0.4 per cent to 1.3540 per U.S. dollar, or 73.86 U.S. cents, as the bank’s commentary was perceived to be a little more hawkish than some traders were positioned for. Darcy Keith has more.
B.C., Ontario mortgage-holders increasingly missed mortgage and credit card payments in 2023
Consumers in Ontario and British Columbia increasingly missed payments on mortgages and credit cards in the fourth quarter of 2023, Equifax Canada said. The fourth quarter saw a continuation of what’s been happening for a while now as the effects of higher interest rates and inflation continue to weigh on consumers, said Rebecca Oakes, vice-president of advanced analytics at Equifax Canada, in an interview. These effects are becoming more visible as people renew their mortgages, she said, and in areas where housing prices are more expensive in Canada. Rosa Saba explains.
Ottawa’s underused housing tax a bureaucratic quagmire for couples with rental property, experts say
A federal tax targeting foreign real estate investors has turned into a bureaucratic headache for many Canadian couples owning rental property who may be among the domestic homeowners required to file a special return by April 30 this year, experts say. Ottawa’s underused housing tax (UHT), which took effect at the beginning of 2022, imposes a yearly 1-per-cent levy on foreign-owned residential properties considered to be underused or vacant.But tax experts have long warned that, while Canadians don’t generally have to pay the tax, they may be required to file a UHT return – if only to claim an exemption – in certain cases. scenarios involve many who own rental property with their spouse or have had their name added to the title of a family member’s home. Erica Alini reports.
– Globe Advisor Staff