Recognising the different demands of male and female clients
Manuela D'Onofrio, Unicredit
Female clients do not need bespoke products but want a private bank that is willing to listen and offer specific advisory services
Delivering a tailored approach to clients has been private banks’ mantra for years. This would mean responding to the individual and not the gender. Generalisations may be pedantic and lumping women, or men, in one inappropriate category.
Women may be more risk adverse and generally tend to outsource more than men to their financial advisers, according to some industry professionals. But there is little evidence private banks have been able to cater to women successfully so far, says Cara Williams global head of wealth management at Mercer.
A couple of Swiss private banks are currently exploring how to best cater to women, reports Ms Williams. “But I do not see any real need for that. At a certain level, women have the same concerns as men, and they are not necessarily looking to be offered different solutions.”
Ethical products may appeal more to the female universe, but this, again, may be a generalisation.
However, in some institutions, such as Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the US, teams of female private bankers have decided to make female clients their niche segment. This approach is not advertised, it is all about word of mouth, states Ms Williams. “You have got to be very careful when you are marketing to a specific segment, because it kind of becomes potentially insulting or patronising.”
But recognising men and women are different, and being able to cater to those specific differences, will pay off in the private banking space just like in any other industry, states Manuela D’Onofrio, head of global investments at UniCredit Private Banking.
It is not about offering bespoke products, but about delivering a specific advisory service, which can take into account of women’s different sensitivity.
Women generally value, more than men, relationships based on trust, and once that trust has been established they tend to delegate more, she says. Even if financial concepts are not so simple to explain, total transparency is needed to gain the trust and retain the loyalty of female clients over long time.
“The clients who have been following me for the past 15 years are all women,” says Ms D’Onofrio.
Unlike women, who tend to be much more aware of their scarce financial knowledge, men, be they entrepreneurs or other professionals, often believe that being updated on financial news is sufficient for them to understand macro-economic dynamics and markets. As a consequence they want to be more hands-on, she explains.
When you liaise with a female client, the best thing you can do is to start listening to her
The ability to listen is paramount with all clients in general, and with women in particular. This is because, again, women want to feel more at ease before discussing their needs and priorities, unlike men, who tend to be more direct.
As female private bankers are in general more capable of establishing a relationship with a client, she states, the growing number of women entering private banks in senior positions could start to change the old-boy private banking system.
“People still tend to associate wealth with men,” states Ms D’Onofrio. After all, the increasing importance of women in the socio-economic world is a relatively recent phenomenon. In theory, private banks emphasise the importance of adopting a more holistic service approach. But in practice, historical legacy of male oriented culture still affects the industry, with private bankers typically focusing on investment products and returns, when approaching clients.
“When you liaise with a female client, the best thing you can do is to start listening to her,” she says.
