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Advisors need not possess doctorates or master’s degrees in demographics, but let’s be honest: the business of financial advice has heavy demographic overtones. Advisors are reminded of that on a daily basis, particularly with the frequent, increasing chatter about the great wealth transfer.
To be fair to advisors, the financial services industry at large has foisted demographics on the wealth management space with significant emphasis on baby boomers and millennials and, more recently Gen Z. That is to say advisors, certainly the astute ones, are cognizant of demographics and the need to customize services and strategies around factors such as age.
For advisors, part of mastering demographics starts with an obvious concept: knowing that female and male clients have different objectives and risk tolerances. In general, women are better savers than, less prone to expensive, impulse discretionary and more risk-averse when it comes to investing. All of those points should be acknowledged by advisors, but when it comes to better catering to clients and prospects that are millennial women, a new survey sheds important light.
Encouraging Signs from Schwab Survey
Charles Schwab’s 2025 Women Investors Survey contains important details regarding how women in that generation approach investing. Among the points for advisors to focus are the facts that millennial women often get started investing earlier than their Gen X and baby boomer counterparts and they’re more open-minded when it comes to having exposure to multiple asset classes. As noted in the table below, millennial women have different motivations for investing and those factors don’t center exclusively on retirement planning.
(Image Courtesy: Charles Schwab)
There are other interesting details regarding what brings millennial women into the investing realm. Put simply, many of these women simply enjoy it and they feel empowered by calling their financial shots.
“Additionally, significantly higher numbers of Millennial women say they enjoy investing and that it gives them a feeling of empowerment. Millennial women are also more likely than older generations to see themselves as ‘investors’ and ‘traders,” according to the survey.
Due to the facts that millennial women are increasingly sophisticated regarding investing and open to receiving related education, they’re more apt to branch out beyond stocks and bonds. Fifty-one percent of millennial females polled by Schwab said they have or currently own cryptocurrency, 28% have traded options and nearly a quarter own alternative assets. In all three cases, the millennial percentages exceed those of boomer and Gen X women.
Understanding What Makes Millennial Women Tick
Obviously, that refers to investing and nothing else. In what is good news for advisors, millennial women told Schwab that discipline, patience and willingness to plan are among the attributes they see as valuable in their investing journeys.
(Image Courtesy: Charles Schwab)
Adding to the positives for advisors regarding millennial women is the point that this group wants to expand their financial knowledge, implying their ready and willing to work with professionals to accomplish that goal.
“What’s interesting, is that younger women investors are more likely than older peers to be focused on building their base of knowledge and thinking through their plan and the options that are out there. It speaks to the heightened level of engagement we see among Millennial women and the importance of investing and financial education and resources,” notes Jeannie Bidner, Head of Schwab’s Branch Network.
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