There has been a definite closing of the financial advice gender gap, with women catching up to men in the overall number of statements of advice (SOAs) issued, as well as total funds under administration (FUA) and average FUA per user, according to Decimal.
Decimal’s digital data insights report that tracked investment advice patterns of users across the firm’s superannuation client base, found that 43 per cent of women sought advice, up from 36 per cent six months ago.
While males had an average 16 per cent more FUA per user than females, the gap had narrowed from 21 per cent over the past six months. On average, women in the 26 to 30-year age bracket had 24 per cent more FUA than men of the same age.
The report found that the age group in which the gender gap was most pronounced for total FUA was the 71 to 90-year age group.
In terms of total SOAs, males were at 57 per cent compared to 43 per cent for females, but the gap had closed since September 2016 (65 per cent for males and 35 per cent for females).
In total FUA, the gender gap closed by six per cent, with men still accounting for higher FUA in all age brackets except 21 to 25, and there was parity for the 26 to 30 age bracket.
In average FUA, males had 16 per cent more than females, but this gap was down five per cent since September 2016. However, there was a big swing in favour of females in the 26 to 30 age bracket, with 24 per cent more for females.
For the 31 to 35 and 51 to 55 age brackets, women had five per cent more than men.
