Female advisors see ‘helping people’ as main career draw, training as hurdle

In a recent survey of female financial advisors, more than half of all early-career respondents – 56% – said “helping people with finances” was their motivation for becoming an advisor. Early-career advisors noted knowledge and training as their top hurdle early on.

The recent study and White Paper by OneAmerica provides insights into attracting and retaining women to the financial-services industry. It also outlines some of the unique challenges they face.

Sandy McCarthy, president of Retirement Services at OneAmerica, sees clear action steps in the survey’s results.

“My first reaction when I saw these results was that we could make a difference,” said McCarthy. “

We’re really seeing just how significant and formative an advisor’s first few years can be,” she said, adding, “Being aware is the first step. From here, we can work together as an industry, not only to get women in the door, but to support, retain and grow them throughout their careers. There’s incredible opportunity here.”

Highlights of draws, challenges

Key highlights from “Success Factors for Female Financial Advisors,” include:

• Helping people a key motivator: Women are attracted to the advisor profession and motivated to stay because of the opportunity to help people. Over half of all early-career respondents – 56% – said “helping people with finances” was their motivation for becoming an advisor. This top motivator remained steady even with seasoned advisors (15+ years of experience), with 79% of respondents including the desire to help people as a top reason to stay in the profession. Interestingly, compensation was a distant second for both early-career and seasoned advisors.
• Hurdles change over career: While some career hurdles remain relatively consistent throughout an advisor’s career, others become more, or less, important. Early-career advisors noted knowledge and training as the top hurdle early on, though it saw a significant drop in importance for advisors with five or more years of experience. Regardless of career stage, work-life balance and new sales consistently ranked in the top five; serving clients and incentive-based compensation were consistently in the bottom five.
• The “four Cs” can make or break career success: Confidence, community, connection and culture emerged in the survey as key determinants of success for female advisors.

Confidence:70% of advisors with 15+ years of experience reported they began feeling confident in their skills and ability to help clients after four to 10 years of experience. This is especially significant in an industry known for high attrition in the early years, perhaps indicating that female advisors leave the profession before their confidence fully develops.

Community:Many female advisors indicated that finding community within the industry is critical, especially related to gaining knowledge and growing confidence. Community-based approaches like networking, mentorship, wholesaler education and support, and teaming were listed as the most effective ways to gain knowledge and confidence.

Connection:Female advisors said they’re most successful in growing their practices through approaches rooted in personal connection and relationship building, including client referrals, networking and building out a center of influence.

Culture:Respondents indicated that elements of firm culture can play a major role in their success. Of note, while overall responses indicated continuous learning and development, empowerment, and work-life balance as key, there were interesting exceptions. Empowerment, for example, was significantly less important to early-career female advisors than to their more experienced counterparts. Recognition was consistently ranked lowest in importance for all groups.

“Our program is about coming together to engage, empower and elevate female advisors,” said McCarthy. “What we learned from the survey allows us to do just that — establishing a baseline as we continue to advance this important discussion and translate our findings into action.”

The survey of over 200 female financial advisors was commissioned as part of the OneAmerica Female Retirement Professionals Program, an initiative created and envisioned by McCarthy.

Ayo Mseka has more than 30 years of experience reporting on the financial services industry. She formerly served as editor-in-chief of NAIFA’s Advisor Today magazine. Contact her at [email protected]. 

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