a question of gender

Volume 2: A Question of Gender

In co-operation with the Economist Intelligence Unit

Barclays Wealth Insights

At Barclays Wealth we constantly seek to understand our clients’ evolving needs and aspirations. In partnership with the Economist

Intelligence Unit, we are encouraging industry debate on how to meet our clients’ changing circumstances and desires.

Our first report, The Future of Wealth 2006-2016, emphasised the unprecedented levels of growth in global wealth. A Question of

Gender, the second chapter in our Barclays Wealth Insights series, endeavours to bring greater understanding and scholarship to

what being wealthy means in the 21st century.

As this latest Insights report reveals, women are wielding greater economic power than ever before, indisputably contributing to the

wealth explosion. This trend raises several questions: how do women approach their financial and wealth management? How does

this compare with the attitudes of men? Is their appetite for risk likely to be higher or lower? Do they invest differently, and do they

save more than men? Are they more or less likely to seek advice on their finances?

A Question of Gender explores these and other differences in attitudes to wealth creation between women and men.

Questions about gender touch the very heart of Barclays Wealth’s culture. As an organisation we are committed to the pursuit of

diversity, since we believe that only a diverse workforce can bring the levels of creativity and productivity that is required to serve our

clients. Attracting, developing and motivating diverse talent is a core priority for us.

We hope that you find this second report in our series of interest. We believe it provides cause for deeper thought and reflection on

some of the issues facing women and the wealth management industry.

Thomas L. Kalaris

Chief Executive

Barclays Wealth

Foreword

1

Barclays Wealth is the UK's leading wealth manager and has £93bn (US$184bn) client assets globally. It serves affluent, high net

worth and intermediary clients worldwide, providing international and private banking, financial planning, investment services and

brokerage. Thomas L. Kalaris is the Chief Executive of Barclays Wealth and he joined the business at the start of 2006.

Barclays Wealth is part of the Barclays Group, a UK-based financial services group, with a large international presence in

Europe, Middle East, the USA, Africa and Asia. Barclays has been operating for more than 300 years with 25 million customers

and 122,600 employees in over 50 countries.

About Barclays Wealth

Barclays Wealth is the wealth management division of Barclays and operates through

Barclays Bank PLC and its subsidiaries. Barclays Bank PLC is registered in England

and authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Registered number

is 1026167 and its registered office is 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP.

© Barclays Wealth 2007. All rights reserved.

For information or permission to reprint, please contact Barclays Wealth at: Barclays

Wealth Insights, Barclays Wealth, 1 Churchill Place, London, UK, E14 5HP

+44 (0)800 851 851 or visit www.barclayswealth.com

Affluence of women

is increasing • ‘Women’ and ‘wealth’ are two words being heard together

more frequently, and the commercial world is sitting up and

taking notice of women’s growing spending power. Globally

women are becoming an economic force with which to be

reckoned. See page 4

The ‘Glass Ceiling’ persists • While the US and UK lead on the number of management

positions held by women, the ‘glass ceiling’ persists and an

equal number of women to men on company boards and in

government is predicted to still be some way off. See page 6

Business as a driver

of wealth • The perception of wealth gained via inheritance or marriage is

becoming outdated, but as women become more independent

and increasingly common in the world of business, what price

does their success have on family and lifestyle? See page 8

Education is the

cornerstone• While men and women have broadly similar views about the

key determinants of their wealth, in particular around education,

a significant difference between the genders is that women are

more likely to cite a strong family background as being

influential. See page 10

Women as wise investors• Motivations to amass and protect wealth are neatly divided

between spending on the present and saving for the future.

Financial security in retirement is the main goal, followed by

a better personal lifestyle and enjoyment of the finer things

in life. See page 10

An appetite for risk• Women have a more cautious approach to risk, proving

themselves to be ‘purpose driven’ investors, less focused on

income and growth. Women want to know more about and

understand an investment proposition, and financial services

providers are paying considerable attention to making their

offer more female-focused. Experts claim that by applying this

same energy, other industries will be better-placed to tap into

this fast-growing market. See page 11

Better knowledge…

or over confidence?• Overall, the majority of men make the financial decisions in a

marriage or partnership, but this is changing for the younger

generations as the Internet, newspapers and specialist

publications play an increasing role in helping women become

better informed about personal finance. See page 13

Enjoyment of wealth• Travel, eating out and cultural events are the most popular ways

of enjoying wealth for both men and women. See page 15

Dr Ros Altmann, Governor of the London School of Economics

Gerard Aquilina, Head of Barclays International Private Bank

Sika Giunta, Chief Executive Officer of US software company, Managed Objects

Dr Rebecca Harding, Senior Fellow in the Foundation for Entrepreneurial Management at the London Business School, and

Director of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (Gem UK)

Emma Harrison, Chairman and Founder of A4E, one of the largest UK suppliers of services to the public, private and

voluntary/community sector

Mark Kibblewhite, Managing Director and Head of Barclays Wealth UK Private Banking

Kalpana Morparia, joint Managing Director of ICICI Bank

Amy Nauiokas, Managing Director and Head of Brokerage, Barclays Wealth

Holly Sargent, Senior Associate Dean for Advancement and Senior Director for University Women’s Studies at Harvard University

Promilla Sehgal, Entrepreneur and Founder of Visage Imports

Alison Steed, contributing author of the report and a freelance journalist, who writes for Wealth Briefing,

the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph

Perween Warsi, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, S&A Foods

2 3

Our Insights Panel Headline findings

of the report include:

54

The commercial world is starting to sit

up and take notice of women’s growing

spending power, and is now redoubling

its efforts to tap into this money-

spinning market

A recent study from Datamonitor, an independent research

company, finds that the gap between the wealth held by male

and female millionaires is narrowing. In 1998, the average male

millionaire in the UK was worth £2.71m (US$5.42m), while the

average female millionaire owned just £1.28m (US$2.56m). By

2006, women had caught up considerably, with the average

female millionaire worth £1.97m (US$3.94m) compared with

£2.96m (US$5.92m) for men.

This increase in female wealth has not been limited to developed

economies. In 2006, the female paper tycoon Zhang Yin was

listed by the Hurun Report as the wealthiest person in China, with

an estimated US$3.4bn. Even in Saudi Arabia, a country in which

women can neither vote nor drive a car, women are making their

presence felt in the higher reaches of business. In 2005, Nahed

Taher became the first Saudi woman to head a large investment

bank when she founded the Gulf One Investment Bank in Bahrain.

More generally, it is clear that women around the world are

becoming an economic force with which to be reckoned. Since

the 1950s, the proportion of the female workforce in Sweden,

the UK and the US has risen from one-third to two-thirds. In

South-east Asia, a region that has in recent years enjoyed

impressive economic growth, women hold two-thirds of jobs in

the export industry. Perhaps most strikingly of all, a recent

report in The Economist suggested that, over the past decade,

the increased employment of women in developed countries has

contributed much more to global growth than China.

The combined wealth of Britain’s 100

richest women in 2007 is £33.27bn

The flip side of wealth creation is spending, and women’s

spending habits are being watched more closely than ever by

companies that are keen to tap into this rich vein of opportunity.

With some studies suggesting that as much as 80 per cent of all

purchasing decisions are made by women, the importance of

developing products and services that meet their needs,

combined with clear and effective marketing, cannot be

overstated. This has been recognised for a number of years by

luxury brands, and even by the traditional male bastions of cars

and gadgets. Other industries, such as financial services, have

been slower to catch onto this trend, but as women increasingly

flex their muscles in the global economy, this is a trend that can

only accelerate across the entire business world.

Introduction“Women” and “wealth” are two words that are being heard together

more frequently as the number of high net worth females in the world

continues to rise. From luxury goods manufacturers to private banks,

the commercial world is starting to sit up and take notice of women’s

growing spending power, and is now redoubling its efforts to tap into

this money-spinning market.

The affluence of women is increasing in no uncertain terms,

with the number of female entrepreneurs and senior company

executives burgeoning in the UK and abroad. Some 30 years

ago, it would have been rare to find women owning their own

businesses, or even being members of the board in large

corporations. Now, there are 92 women on the Sunday Times

Rich List, a club that requires wealth of at least £70m (US$138m)

to join. The combined wealth of Britain’s 100 richest women in

2007 is £33.27bn (US$66bn), and data from the Centre for

Economics and Business Research suggests that, by 2020,

53 per cent of millionaires in the UK will be female.

The lack of senior female directors is bewildering for many

commentators, not least because studies have shown that

companies with more women at the top tend to perform better

than those with fewer. For example, a study by research

organisation Catalyst found that companies with the highest

female representation on their senior management teams

enjoyed a 34 per cent higher return on equity than those with

the lowest representation.

Numerous reasons have been put forward to explain this

phenomenon, but a common thread seems to be that a

diversity of opinions on management boards is likely to lead to

more rigorous analysis of problems and therefore improved

decision-making. It may also be because women tend to be

stronger than men in areas such as leadership and collaboration,

which are regularly cited as vital for business success.

Companies today face more pressure than ever to increase

female representation at the highest management levels. As

well as evidence that points to stronger performance among

companies with female directors, a more rigorous corporate

governance requirement in the wake of the Enron scandal has

encouraged boards to dismantle the “clubbiness” of the

boardroom and look further afield for new talent. Over time, it is

hoped that these trends will accelerate the promotion of women

to senior management teams, so that one day we may see 50

female chief executives in the FTSE 100, instead of just one.

76

The

“GlassCeiling”

Over the past few decades, the number of women who hold elevated

positions in business and government has steadily increased.

According to data from the OECD, which combines Labour Force

surveys of a sample of private households undertaken separately

by European Union member countries, with data from the US

Current Population Survey, around four per cent of female

employees now hold managerial positions in business in OECD

countries, compared with 7.1 per cent of men. In the US, the

figure for women rises to 12.1 per cent, compared with 15.6 per

cent of male employees (see Table 1).

At the highest levels of business, women have gradually become

better represented. There are 117 female directors of FTSE 100

companies, and 77 per cent of those companies have at least

one woman on their board. In the US, 89 per cent of companies

on the S&P500 have at least one woman on their board, and 64

per cent have more than one, according to a report by Spencer

Stuart, the recruitment firm.

But despite the considerable advances made by women in

business, the much-discussed “glass ceiling” persists in many

countries and industries. Only 10.35 per cent of all directorships on

FTSE 100 companies are held by women, compared with 16 per

cent on the S&P500. According to the annual Sex and Power Index

compiled by the UK’s Equal Opportunities Commission, it will take

another 60 years to achieve an equal number of female directors of

FTSE 100 companies, and up to 200 years to achieve an equal

number of women in Parliament.

Un

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Female

Sources: OECD, European Labour Force surveys and US Current Population Survey

Table 1: Percentages of employees in managerial posts

2004 or latest year available

Directors & Managers

AsiaNorth

EuropeMiddle East

America & Africa

As well as climbing the corporate ladder with greater ease,

women are also becoming increasingly common in the world of

entrepreneurship. Holly Sargent, Senior Associate Dean for

Advancement and Senior Director for University Women’s

Studies at Harvard University, points out that when women do

start a business, it often does not have the sole purpose of

generating wealth. More often than not, there will be a social

element to their entrepreneurship, which is often as important,

if not more so, as their need and willingness to create wealth.

Dr Harding agrees, and notes that women at home who have time

and resources behind them are likely to go into the labour market

by being entrepreneurial. “Their businesses are more likely to be

family orientated, less commercial, and more socially, or ‘gap in the

market’ based,” she explains. “A lot of innovative products are

created around female-orientated gaps in the market.”

98

Drivers and goalsof wealth“Younger women are becoming more independent and going

through the career profile more swiftly”

Source: EIU/Barclays Wealth

Table 2: Sources of personal wealth cited by women

Which of the following have been most important to you as sources of your personal wealth? Select up to three responses

Income from sale of property 9.8 % 16.7 % 8.9 % 0.0 %

Inheritance 26.8 % 22.2 % 15.2 % 25.9 %

Income from job 53.7 % 75.0 % 64.6 % 63.0 %

Income from investments 34.1 % 38.9 % 24.1 % 44.4 %

Income from property rental 12.2 % 11.1 % 8.9 % 11.1 %

Rich benefactor 4.9 % 0.0 % 8.9 % 3.7 %

Income from a business 26.8 % 16.7 % 19.0 % 18.5 %

Sale of a business 9.8 % 11.1 % 7.6 % 14.8 %

Pension 14.6 % 11.1 % 12.7 % 3.7 %

Other 0.0 % 0.0 % 2.5 % 0.0 %

Marriage 24.4 % 19.4 % 27.8 % 29.6 %

Gambling/lottery win 2.4 % 2.8 % 7.6 % 7.4 %

Divorce settlement 2.4 % 5.6 % 0.0 % 3.7 %

The traditional sources of wealth for women have been

inheritance from their parents or deceased husbands, or

financial gain from the divorce of a wealthy husband. While

these methods of achieving wealth status are still evident, a

recent global survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence

Unit on behalf of Barclays Wealth of 600 affluent, high net

worth and ultra high net worth individuals indicates that this

perception is becoming outdated.

The vast majority of those surveyed – both men and women –

have earned their money through their job or the ownership of a

business, although in both cases, the proportions are slightly

higher among men. Less than one-fifth of women, and just over

one-sixth of men, have generated significant wealth from an

inheritance. Meanwhile, marriage is a significant source of

wealth for around one-quarter of women, compared with just

one in 10 men. Looking in greater detail at the research, one

finds notable differences between the regions. For example, the

proportion of women who say that marriage is a significant

source of wealth is highest in the Middle East and Africa, at 30

per cent, and is lowest in North America, at 19 per cent.

Dr Rebecca Harding, Senior Fellow in the Foundation for

Entrepreneurial Management at the London Business School,

and Director of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (Gem UK),

corroborates this general shift in sources of female wealth. “A lot

of the female wealth is still coming from divorce,” she says, “but

younger women are becoming more independent and going

through the career profile more swiftly.”

As women generate more of their own wealth from income and

investments, an unfortunate side effect is that we may see

divorce levels increasing. Recent research by Randall Kesselring,

Professor of Economics at Arkansas University, in which the

finances of more than 100,000 women were examined, found

that, with every US$20,000 that a woman’s wealth increased

relative to the family’s overall income, the chances of marital

break-up rose by one per cent.

High appetite for risk 8 6

So given this shift in the likely sources of female wealth, what

are perceived to be the most important factors that influence

wealth accumulation? Men and women have broadly similar

views about the key determinants of their wealth, and they tend

to be grouped around education (in particular, university or

college), determination, and being allowed to live independently

at a young age. The only significant difference between the

genders is that women are more likely to cite a strong family

background as being influential. Both genders see propensity for

wealth as being a nurture, rather than nature issue, with very

few respondents considering that an innate talent for wealth

generation is an important factor.

Comparing the regions, we find that women around the world

have slightly differing views as to the key factors that influence

wealth generation. While education is perceived universally as

being the single most important influence, the family is seen as

a more dominant influence in the Middle East and Africa than in

other regions. Respondents from those regions are more likely

than those from elsewhere to cite strong family ties, a wealthy

family background and the influence of an individual family

member as being important factors that have helped them

accumulate wealth.

Spend and save are

the main goalsMotivations for amassing and protecting wealth are almost

identical for men and women. Financial security in retirement is

seen as the main priority, followed by a better personal lifestyle

and enjoyment of the finer things in life. In other words, the

goals appear to be neatly divided between spending on the

present and saving for the future. More intangible factors, such

as status and the sheer enjoyment of making money, come

much further down the list. The only substantial difference

between the sexes is that men are more likely to see financial

security of children as a priority. There is, however, an

interesting difference between women in different regions:

those in the Middle East and Africa are more likely than those

elsewhere to consider financial security for children as a key

motivation, with 63 per cent seeing it as important. This is

further evidence of the strong family ties that the survey

suggests are characteristic of the region.

The emotional

impact of wealthIt is often said that money cannot buy you happiness, but the

results of the survey suggest that this old cliché may be somewhat

wide of the mark. The women questioned who hold assets in

excess of $1m were more likely than those with assets below that

threshold to think that increased wealth had brought them more

leisure time, more time with their family, better health and, yes,

increased levels of happiness. Women below the $1m mark could

console themselves that they generally had greater levels of job

satisfaction but, on the minus side, they suffered from similar

levels of stress to those with greater wealth.

Perceptions of the benefits of wealth also vary considerably

between the regions. In general, respondents from Asia appear to

have been able to enjoy more leisure time and time with their

families as a result of their wealth. Conversely, respondents from

North America are least likely to consider that greater wealth has

given them more time with their families, and are second least

likely (after the Middle East and Africa) to consider that it has

given them more leisure time. Despite these constraints on their

time, they are however most likely to think that greater wealth

has enhanced their levels of personal happiness.

Women and

personal financeMany experts contend that women are far less likely to take risks

with their money, whether in their personal finance or business

affairs. This perception is borne out by the research, which finds

that, in the past three years, more men than women have

invested in vehicles that are generally considered to be at the

riskier end of the financial spectrum, such as hedge funds,

private equity, structured products and derivatives. Men are also

more likely to have invested in stocks and shares.

1110

Education is the cornerstone

Table 3: Factors that have influenced wealth

(rankings in order of importance)

How influential do you think the following factors have been in helping

you achieve the wealth you now hold?

Women Men

University Education 1 1

School Education 2 3

Determination 3 2

Strong family ties 4 9

Understanding of money from early age 5 5

Independence from an early age 6 4

Peer group 7 7

Wealthy family background 9 11

Support from individual family member 10 10

Innate talent for wealth generation 11 8

Modest family background 12 12


Table 4: Motivations to amass and protect wealth

(rankings in order of importance)

What are the main motivations for you to amass and protect

your wealth?

Women Men

Financial security in retirement 1 1

Better personal lifestyle 2 2

Enjoyment of the finer things in life 3 3

Ability to travel extensively 4 4=

Ability to retire early 5 6

Ability to afford a large property 6 7

Financial security for children 7 4=

Ability to help others (e.g. philanthropy) 8 8

Private education for children 9 9

Status 10 11

Enjoyment of making money 11 10

Ability to afford more than one property 12 12


Table 5: Wealth and lifestyle (comparison of attitudes of mass affluent

and high net worth women)

What impact has increased personal wealth had on the following

areas of your life?

Women with Womenassets with assets

under $1m over $1m

More leisure time 56% 70%

More time with family 41% 59%

More stress 55% 59%

Greater personal happiness 70% 80%

Better health 54% 64%

Better relationships with family 57% 53%

Job satisfaction 74% 63%


This observation may come down to the fact that women

generally want to know more about an investment proposition,

and fully understand it, before they are prepared to sign up.

Financial institutions will tell you that, in general, women want

more help in making their financial decisions than men, and

often the level of reassurance they need about the decisions

they are making is much higher.

“Women are much more clinical in their need to know what they

are going to get before they sign up for something,” says Dr Ros

Altmann, Governor of the London School of Economics. “Men have

more of a mindset that you have to just go out and get it, and you

can see their attitude towards risk taking in the games they play.”

“Women want more nurturing, coaching

and support, and a lot of that focuses on

the language of finance”

Aware of the different approaches and requirement of the genders,

private banks and other financial services providers are now paying

considerable attention towards making their products and services

more female-focused. But there is still a language barrier when it

comes to women and finance that is not going to change in the

foreseeable future. “Women want more nurturing, coaching and

support, and a lot of that focuses on the language of finance,” says

Dr Harding. By taking more time and using more energy to

understand the needs and considerations of women, businesses

will be able to tap into a fast-growing market far more effectively.

Better knowledge. . .

or over confidence?Male respondents to the survey profess a greater knowledge

than female respondents of every aspect of personal finance –

from tax and estate planning to stock markets and investing in

hedge funds. Almost across the board, the proportion of men

claiming good knowledge of financial products is around 10 per

cent higher than the proportion of women although, in reality,

this could simply be put down to over confidence rather than

any superior knowledge. The single notable exception is the

working of the stock market, where the knowledge gap extends

to around 20 per cent between men and women. The greater

extent of this difference suggests that this is one area where

men do have a genuine edge over women.

Looking at the differences between the regions, we find that

confidence levels among women are often highest in the Middle

East and Africa. Although the region has a relatively less

established investor culture, women there were most confident

about investing in funds and collective investments, and hedge

funds. They were also among the most confident in their

knowledge of investing in estate planning, retirement planning

and the capabilities of private banks.

Gerard Aquilina, Head of Barclays International Private Banking,

comments that in recent years he has witnessed women in the

Middle East occupying greater prominence in the world of finance.

“One of the trends I have observed is the considerable increase in

the numbers of female investment bankers, financial fund

managers and portfolio managers in the region” he explains. “This

is a trend which would not have been seen some years ago, and is

testament to the growing influence of women in business.”

Women from Europe, meanwhile, professed greatest

understanding of stocks and shares, with 38 per cent of women

saying they are confident in this area (North Americans were not

far behind, with 36 per cent saying they are confident here).

Women in Europe also seem to have a slight edge over those in

other regions in terms of their knowledge of the debt market,

with 34 per cent professing confidence in that area.

13

Amy Nauiokas, Managing Director and Head of Brokerage,

Barclays Wealth, says that this analysis fits with the typical

female customer profile. “Our female investors tend to be

between 45 and 65, and they tend to have a more cautious

approach to risk,” she says.

The survey suggests that women in North America have a

propensity to be most sophisticated in terms of the breadth of

their investments. The continent has the highest proportion of

women that invest in stocks and shares, bonds, property and

personal pensions. Women in the Middle East, however, are more

likely to invest in commodities, such as gold, and hedge funds,

than those in any other region. European women, meanwhile, are

most likely to invest in alternative assets, such as antiques and art.

The table above clearly shows that property is an important

investment vehicle for many women around the world. In North

America and Europe, property was second only to stocks and

shares as the preferred investment over the past three years,

and it also scored highly for women in Asia and the Middle East.

Large increases in property values since the 1990s have

encouraged many women to channel their funds into bricks and

mortar, and have also been significant in terms of wealth

creation. Income from property rental or the sale of property is

cited as an important source of wealth for 20 per cent of

women in our survey, and 31 per cent say that they plan to

invest in property over the next three years.

Furthermore, when asked how they would choose to spend a cash

windfall, 25 per cent of women cited investment or personal

purchase of property if they were to receive $2m.

However, women tend to place less importance than men on

their income from investments, and from property rental and

property sales. “I keep coming back to the fact that women tend

to have purpose-driven investing,” says Ms Nauiokas. “They will

alter their approach as they reach their goal and will often act to

protect what it is they have built up. Male investors tend to look

for income and growth.”

12


Table 6: Regional differences in investing (% of women who say they have invested)

In which of the following vehicles have you invested in the past three years?

AsiaNorth

EuropeMiddle East

America & Africa

Commodities (eg, gold) 9.8 % 19.4 % 15.2 % 33.3 %

Individual stocks and shares 65.9 % 69.4 % 65.8 % 48.1 %

Bonds 31.7 % 38.9 % 25.3 % 22.2 %

Gilts 14.6 % 5.6 % 10.1 % 14.8 %

Currency 19.5 % 13.9 % 10.1 % 18.5 %

Tracker funds 7.3 % 11.1 % 13.9 % 25.9 %

Hedge funds 12.2 % 8.3 % 12.7 % 18.5 %

Property 19.5 % 44.4 % 36.7 % 29.6 %

Personal pension 17.1 % 38.9 % 36.7 % 29.6 %

Private equity/co-investing 4.9 % 11.1 % 10.1 % 0.0 %

Investment trusts 17.1 % 22.2 % 20.3 % 22.2 %

Derivatives (futures, options, CFDs etc) 2.4 % 11.1 % 5.1 % 7.4 %

Alternative assets (fine wine, antiques, art etc) 2.4 % 8.3 % 16.5 % 3.7 %

Credit/leveraging 9.8 % 2.8 % 6.3 % 7.4 %

Structured Products 9.8 % 8.3 % 7.6 % 7.4 %

Travel is the most important leisure pursuit for both sexes,

closely followed by eating out and cultural events, such as going

to concerts, the theatre, or art galleries. But after that, the

choices for men and women diverge considerably. For example,

31 per cent of men like to take part in sport, compared to just 17

per cent of women. The latter, it seems, are busy shopping –

with 37 per cent enjoying retail therapy as a pastime, compared

with 12 per cent of men.

Looking at the regions, Asian women appear to be keener on

travel and shopping than their peers elsewhere in the world: 68

per cent said that they favoured travel in their leisure pursuits,

compared with 56 per cent of European women and 44 per cent

of women from Middle East and Africa; while 49 per cent of

Asian women favoured shopping, compared with just 25 per

cent in North America.

In terms of how they spend their money, both men and women

cite holidays and home improvements as their top priorities: 63

per cent of men and 59 per cent of women spent more than

$5,000 on holidays in the past year, while 46 per cent of men

and 45 per cent of women spent more than that amount on

home improvements. Clothes are another important

extravagance, although the proportion of women who spend

more than $5,000 annually is slightly higher than that of men.

Men, meanwhile, are more likely to spend in excess of $5,000 on

furniture, cars and gadgets.

In recent years, there has been a significant trend in the luxury

goods market towards marketing and advertising specifically to

target women. Jaguar Land Rover, for example, has worked hard

to shed its image as a brand that is targeted primarily at men.

To this end, it has created a women’s panel to advise on the

design of future cars, introduced policies to encourage more

women onto its workforce, and launched “Jaguar women”, a

new perfume. Notably, the company also has a female

managing director, Bibiana Boerio.

15

North American women appear to be most aware of the need

for diversification in their investments, with more respondents

than from any other region agreeing that they do not like

putting all their money into one account. Meanwhile, women in

Asia who were questioned for the survey tended not to rate

their knowledge of financial matters particularly highly and

generally lagged behind their peers in the other three regions.

“At one time clients had no access to

research, product innovations and pricing,

and to an extent they were completely

reliant on financial advisers to pick an

investment for them”

Despite, or perhaps because of, the greater knowledge they

claim in financial matters, men are more likely than women to

seek third-party advice on their finances. Independent financial

advisers are the first port of call, with 45 per cent of men and

38 per cent of women saying that they use this service. Men are

also more likely to consult tax specialists, accountants, private

banks, brokers and the media. The only source of advice that is

more widely used by women than men is the high-street bank.

Around the same proportion of men and women seek no advice

at all – about 15 per cent.

In terms of developing wider knowledge, both men and women

are turning to new media channels as a source of education and

information. Mr Aquilina points out that the growth of the

Internet has become an important source of financial

information of the kind that once would have been very difficult

to obtain. “At one time clients had no access to research,

product innovations and pricing, and to an extent they were

completely reliant on financial advisers to pick an investment for

them,” he explains. “Now they have access to various products

and investment ideas.”

The media also cannot be underestimated as a source of

education about trends in financial services. Mr Aquilina cites

as an example the daily coverage in broadsheet newspapers of

the latest purchase by private equity or hedge fund activity.

Because of this, the customer, whether male or female, is

becoming more educated, questioning and in turn, more

demanding, as this knowledge increases. According to Mr

Aquilina, new trends are emerging due to the intellectual

content of the dialogue between private bankers and their

clients, such as increased confidence in debt and interest in

alternative investments.

The majority of men in a marriage or partnership say that they

make the financial decisions – 65 per cent compared to 41 per

cent of women. Joint decisions are made in just under one-

quarter of relationships. “You do need to differentiate between

age groups,” says Dr Altmann. “In my experience, a lot of older

women tend to rely on their husbands to do the investing. Often

they have not taken the time to be financially aware, and they

can find they have really been left behind in a divorce. But

younger women are taking much more control of their finances,

and are looking after themselves better.”

Women are also passing on their financial knowledge to their

dependents, says Mr Aquilina, and are paying special attention

to educating females. “If you take as a given that you are

dealing with a paternalistic male world where financial decisions

are concerned, we note a higher propensity among parents in

Latin America and the Middle East, for example, to have their

daughters learn about financial management.”

14

Enjoyingwealth

We have established already from the research that women consider

a better lifestyle and the ability to enjoy the finer things in life as one

of their main motivations for wealth creation. So how do they spend

their leisure time and disposable income?

Furniture 23% 41%

Table 7: Proportions of men and women who spent more than $5000

in past year on the following categories of items

Women Men

Holidays 59% 63%

Home improvements 45% 46%

Clothes 43% 36%

Cars 39% 46%

Jewellery and watches 36% 26%

Gadgets 31% 38%

Art and antiques 24% 24%

Charitable donations 20% 23%

Fine wine 20% 19%

Jets, yachts, and helicopters 16% 14%


20%Women

19%Men

16%Women

14%Men

39%Women

46%Men

24%Women

24%Men

45%Women

46%Men

1716

59%Women

63%Men

So how do men and women

spend their leisure time and

disposable income?

19

The windfall dilemma There is a theory that people view their regular income in a

different way to a bonus, and do their own form of accounting in

the way that they are prepared to spend each type of income.

Mark Kibblewhite, Managing Director and Head of Barclays

Wealth UK Private Banking says there is a very clear mental

accountancy when choosing between investment and spending.

“When women are in the mindset that ‘this is for investment and

saving’ they are very diligent and plan well. But experience would

tell us that female clients make a very clear choice in their minds

and are absolutely more disciplined in allocating a figure for the

spending pot to enhance their lifestyle and enjoyment.”

It is instructive, therefore, to look at how men and women

would spend a windfall, and to see if there are any differences

between the two.

If they were to receive a windfall of $200,000, both sexes would

be more likely to invest the money, but the woman’s propensity

to avoid risk is apparent; with men more likely to put the money

into the stock market, and women more likely to bump up their

personal pension. If the windfall rose tenfold again to $2m,

investing the money would be by far the most popular option

for both sexes. Men would be most likely to invest in property or

a private company, whereas women would tend to prefer

property, or pension and savings products. The tendency for

men to choose investments such as the stock market or

investing in a private company bears out the finding in a

separate question where men said they were more likely than

women to choose a high-risk investment to improve returns.

“Women are far more risk aware,

frightened that things will go wrong, and

frightened of flying too close to the sun”

This appetite for risk is part of the reason why many men find it

easier to get investment for their companies than women.

“Women cannot always sell their business ideas to the male

investor,” says Dr Harding. “If you talk to people who provide

women with finance, they will say that women have a lower

expectation of how their business is going to grow, even when

they are very high powered. Women are far more risk aware,

frightened that things will go wrong, and frightened of flying too

close to the sun.”

Dr Harding adds that women will generally put proportionately

less of their own cash into a business venture than their male

equivalent, even when they are expecting to have a low

turnover. “The language of that to an investor is that they do

not believe in their product and they are not prepared to

dedicate everything to it,” she says.

“Women don’t necessarily look at things

through the same lens”

The financial services industry in general acknowledges that

men and women may have different needs, Mr Kibblewhite

points out. “At one stage you’re dealing with some of the most

successful entrepreneurial high earning individuals in the

country. The next minute it is someone who, completely

through circumstances, have had their world shattered through

a family change or bereavement - and they’re thrust into the

world of finance.”

For this reason, Mr Kibblewhite says that the industry needs to

work harder to recognise that women’s thought processes are

sometimes different. “Women don’t necessarily look at things

through the same lens as a male client, which is why we apply

the time to treat each client individually and work with them to

understand what they want to achieve, guaranteeing the right

balance between preserving wealth for themselves and

distributing that wealth to family members.”

18

When it comes to luxury services, men are more likely to use

personal trainers, chauffeurs, chefs, alternative health

practitioners, property search agencies, lawyers and private

bankers than women. However, women are more likely to use

what may be considered “lifestyle” services, such as personal

concierge and shopping services, life coaches, personal stylists,

bodyguards and private doctors.

Despite these patterns of spending, there are still relatively high

proportions of both men and women who say that they spend

nothing on many of these categories. For example, 30 per cent

of women and 21 per cent of men say that they have spent

nothing on home improvements in the past year, and 45 per

cent of men and 46 per cent of women say that they have not

purchased any art or antiques.

A surprisingly high proportion of men –

more than one-third – think that designer

clothes and other luxury goods are a

waste of money

A surprisingly high proportion of men – more than one-third –

think that designer clothes and other luxury goods are a waste

of money, a statistic which perhaps follows on from the male

disinterest in shopping. Just one-fifth of women agree with this

statement, but nonetheless, this is still a significant number.


Table 8: Source - women only

If you had a cash windfall of US$2m, and could only choose one thing to do with the money, which of the following would you choose?

AsiaNorth

EuropeMiddle East

America & Africa

Invest/save in savings products (deposit/savings accounts, bonds ISAs, etc) 17.1 % 17.1 % 5.2 % 14.8 %

Pay off debts 2.4 % 0.0 % 7.8 % 3.7 %

Invest in property (for investment, not personal use) 19.5 % 25.7 % 10.4 % 11.1 %

Invest in private company 2.4 % 2.9 % 11.7 % 11.1 %

Invest in stock market 2.4 % 17.1 % 10.4 % 14.8 %

Spend on travelling 0.0 % 2.9 % 7.8 % 7.4 %

Add to my pension 9.8 % 11.4 % 15.6 % 14.8 %

Put towards/spend on a new property for personal use 17.1 % 5.7 % 10.4 % 7.4 %

Put towards/spend on an aircraft/yacht/private jet 14.6 % 5.7 % 9.1 % 7.4 %

Spend on artwork 0.0 % 2.9 % 0.0 % 0.0 %

Give to other family members 4.9 % 5.7 % 5.2 % 0.0 %

Give to charity 2.4 % 0.0 % 1.3 % 0.0 %

Spend on designer clothes or jewellery 4.9 % 0.0 % 1.3 % 3.7 %

Spend on gadgets/new technology 0.0 % 2.9 % 2.6 % 0.0 %

Total 100.0 % 100.0 % 100.0 % 100.0 %

Spend on a car 2.4 % 0.0 % 1.3 % 3.7 %

21

One of the most constructive ways in which wealth can be

passed through the generations is by handing over the reins of a

family business. This is an experience that UK-based entrepreneur

Promilla Sehgal understands very well. In 2005, she sold her UK

business Visage Imports, which she had founded 24 years earlier,

to her son, daughter and son-in-law in a management buy-out for

£100m (US$198m). The company, which is based in South

Shields, UK, imports clothing and accessories from countries

including China, Bangladesh, India, Turkey and Hong Kong, and

today supplies many leading high-street retailers. Keeping the

business in the family was an important consideration for Ms

Sehgal. “I believe family businesses are all about keeping control,

and I was very keen for the business to be something that the

next generation could continue to build,” she says.

Charitable legacies and philanthropy have been much in the news

lately, thanks in no small part to last year’s $37bn donation by

Warren Buffett to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Respondents do not generally consider the ability to help others

via philanthropy as an important reason to amass and protect

their wealth, however they certainly see charitable giving as an

important by-product of their good financial fortune. Around 37

per cent of men and 39 per cent of women say that they expect

to leave 10 per cent or more of their estate to charitable causes,

while 23 per cent of men and 20 per cent of women say that they

gave more than $5,000 to charity in the past year.

Ms Sargent points out, however, that philanthropy is not

necessarily something that is gender-specific, and that it more

likely has to do with an individual’s life and experiences. “There

are some interesting changes in the way that women are

looking at how they can use their wealth to advance things they

care about,” she explains. “In the past 20 to 25 years, there has

been a huge increase in political donations from women. In the

US, there are organisations like Emily’s List, which has

capitalised on the increased understanding that if you are going

to have a voice in political dealings, then you are stepping up.

There is now a movement afoot for women to step up and be

willing to fund in a major way the cause for social justice.”

“There is now a movement afoot for

women to step up and be willing

to fund in a major way the cause

for social justice”

20

Perpetuation of wealthThe passing of wealth down the generations has been a rite of

passage for millennia. But while inheritance was always an important

source of wealth for our more fortunate ancestors, the rise of

entrepreneurship and the democratisation of wealth mean that it no

longer figures so prominently.

That said, there remains a fairly strong sense among our survey respondents that a financial legacy for dependents is important.

Around 60 per cent of both women and men say that they want to make sure that they have enough money to pass on to the next

generation, and we have already established that financial security for children is an important driver for wealth creation, especially

for men. Looking at the regions, the importance of passing on wealth is strongest in the Middle East, where 70 per cent of women

say that they want to make sure they are able to do this.

Financial security for children is an

important driver for wealth creation

2322

North America• In the US, 89 per cent of companies on the S&P500 have at

least one woman on their board, and 64 per cent have more

than one

• North American women are least likely to consider that greater

wealth has given them more time with their families

• They have a propensity to be most sophisticated in terms of

the breadth of their investments. North America has the

highest proportion of women that invest in stocks and shares,

bonds, property and personal pensions

• They appear to be most aware of the need for diversification in

their investments

• Income from a job was the most important source of wealth

for 75 per cent of North American women, more than any

other region

Europe• Data from the Centre for Economics and Business Research

suggest that, by 2020, 53 per cent of millionaires in the UK

will be female

• Since the 1950s, the proportion of the female workforce in

Sweden and the UK has risen from one-third to two-thirds

• European women are more likely than those from other regions

to invest in alternative assets, such as antiques and art

• European women professed greatest understanding of stocks and

shares, with 38 per cent saying they are confident in this area

Middle East & Africa• Confidence levels towards personal finance are highest in the

Middle East and Africa, despite a less established investor culture

• The proportion of women who say marriage is a significant

source of wealth is highest, at 30 per cent

• Women see the family as a more dominant influence on

wealth generation than in other regions

• They are most likely to consider financial security for children

as a key motivation - 63 per cent see it as important

• They are least likely to consider that wealth has given them

more leisure time

Asia• Women in Asia are more likely than those from elsewhere

to enjoy more leisure time, and time with their families as

a result of their wealth

• They do not rate their knowledge of financial matters

particularly highly, lagging behind their peers in the other

three regions

• They are keener on travel and shopping than their peers

elsewhere in the world - 68 per cent favoured travel and

49 per cent shopping

• Income from a business was a source of personal

wealth for 26 per cent of Asian women – more than

any other region

• South-east Asian women hold two-thirds of jobs in the

region’s export industry

Women aroundthe world

unemployed by the closure of the local steel works. Weeks later,

Ms Harrison’s father left for Germany, leaving her in charge of

the company. Within a year, the business was turning over £1m

(US$2m). When Ms Harrison’s father returned, they disagreed

over the future direction of the business, and Ms Harrison left

to found A4E.

In the 20 years that she has been in business, Ms Harrison has

detected a gradual improvement in the way in which female

entrepreneurs are perceived by the finance community and

other professions, such as law and accountancy. “Things are

moving in the right direction,” she says. “The banks have woken

up to the fact that there’s some good business to be had by

working with women. I think it’s just a commercial thing – the

banks, lawyers and accountants are all making money off

businesses that are run by women.”

With the groundwork being laid in terms of perceptions of female

entrepreneurs, an important question for many researchers is

how women’s aptitude for entrepreneurship compares with that

of men. Here, Ms Harrison feels that women may have a genuine

edge in that they tend to possess some of the same personality

traits that characterise successful entrepreneurs. “The good

entrepreneurs that you meet are very creative, and they’re

genuinely very empathic and honest. They’ve also learned how

to get on with others and make genuine friendships, which I

would say are more feminine characteristics.”

Although the businesses being set up by women naturally span

the full commercial spectrum, academics and commentators

have noted that, in common with Ms Harrison’s A4E, female

entrepreneurship tends to gravitate towards enterprises that

have a social aspect. Research by the London Business School’s

Social Entrepreneurship Monitor has found that women are

more likely to start social enterprises – businesses that trade for

a social purpose – than traditional, purely commercial ones.

This finding corresponds with Ms Harrison’s own experience of

the female entrepreneurship community. “If you talk to women

entrepreneurs, they’ve all got a reason for doing their business,”

she says. “There’s something they want to change. It’s never as

simple as ‘I just wanted to make myself some money’, whereas

you do get that from men.”

For many women, especially mothers who may feel that they

do not receive enough support or understanding in a corporate

environment, the entrepreneurial route can appear very

attractive. As the mother of four young children, Ms Harrison

says that she has benefited from a career that gives her control

over her life, but warns against any would-be entrepreneur

thinking they will necessarily have any more free time. “Being

an entrepreneur means that you’re in charge of your own

destiny,” she says. “Whether it gives you any more time than

working for a company, I don’t think it does. But it does give

you the control over how you use your time. If you’re working

for a big city firm, you don’t necessarily get that.”

Despite the advances that have been made in the recognition

of female entrepreneurs, Ms Harrison feels that there is still a

place for women-only networks, at which female innovators can

share experiences, tips and contacts. “I speak at a lot of these

events and, for women who are just beginning, their biggest

problem is confidence,” she says. “You can see that women get

a lot of support from meeting other women and it not being a

male-dominated event.”

Although she has achieved outstanding success with A4E, Ms

Harrison sees no reason to rest on her laurels, and says that she

is pursuing ambitious market and geographical expansion plans.

By 2014, she expects annual revenues from A4E to reach £500m

(US$1bn), and for half of these to come from overseas projects,

which include centres in France, Germany, Israel, Poland and

South Africa. She is also in the throes of setting up a bank in a

joint venture that will provide services for the same demographic

that uses A4E’s training and skills offering. Her motivation

remains, as it always has been, to make a difference to

individuals’ lives. “Business is a lovely thing to be involved with

because it’s about people,” she says. “I love working with the

people I work with and I love seeing them become successful.”

2524

Few entrepreneurs in the UK have been as successful as Emma

Harrison at combining the goal of making a difference to people’s

lives with achieving financial success.

Case study: EmmaHarrison

As the Founder of A4E, a company that runs training and skills

services on behalf of the government to help unemployed

people back to work and advise small businesses, Ms Harrison

oversees a company with around 2,500 employees and

revenues of more than £100m. Her personal fortune is

estimated at more than £55m – enough to earn her a place on

the 2005 Sunday Times Rich List, a roll call of the UK’s

wealthiest individuals.

Ms Harrison developed her entrepreneurial skills at an early age,

running an illegal tuck shop at her local comprehensive school in

Sheffield. After graduating from Bradford University with an

engineering degree, she went to work with her father, who had set

up a training agency to provide support for those made

“The banks have woken up to the fact

that there’s some good business to be

had by working with women”

KV Kamath, the company’s (male) Managing Director and Chief

Executive, has made it company policy to encourage the

recruitment and development of women and, as a result,

females hold about a dozen of the top 40 management posts,

two out of five executive board seats, run two out of five

subsidiaries, and account for about 30 per cent of total staff.

Kalpana Morparia is one of two joint Managing Directors at ICICI

Bank. A lawyer by training, Ms Morparia has headed many

functions in the bank and has been described as “the backbone

of ICICI”. When she retires in May at the age of 58, she will

become Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of ICICI

Holdings, a new company being spun off to control the bank’s

booming insurance and asset management businesses.

According to Ms Morparia, women in business have the

advantages of being “especially sensitive to employees and the

environment, rather than being just task-oriented”. She firmly

believes that women should not, and do not want to be, treated

differently from men. “The moment you do something special for

women, you lose them, because they don’t want that,” she says.

She has stayed in ICICI, despite relatively low salaries, “because

the empowerment is great – it gives an entrepreneurial

framework with all the support systems you need”.

Ms Morparia says that, increasingly, it does not matter whether

one is a man or a woman in India’s services business, especially in

finance and hospitality. By contrast, in manufacturing, it is rare for

women to get to the top, except as a member of a business family.

For example, in southern India, Rajshree Pathy is the Chairman &

Managing Director of her family’s Rajshree Sugars and Chemicals.

The high proportion of female senior executives at ICICI

creates an atmosphere of comradeship, which Ms Morparia

says that both she and her colleagues value. That said, they

don’t mind being the only woman in a meeting.

In contrast to some of the other interviewees questioned for this

report, Ms Morparia does not feel that women’s networks help.

“The more the emphasis on the difference in gender, the more

we are making it difficult for us to be accepted as successful,”

she says. Referring to another sort of network, several ICICI

employees point out that help given by relatives within the

Indian extended family support system makes it easier to build

careers than it might be in other countries.

What advice would Ms Morparia offer to other women who are

seeking similar success? “Completely erase from your mind that

you need to be treated differently from men,” she says. She then

adds, with a trace of humour typical of the ICICI women, “Men

are just as smart as women are”.

ICICI Bank is India’s second largest and fastest-growing bank and

perhaps the country’s best example of how to assimilate women

throughout an organisation.

2726

Case study: KalpanaMorparia

“The more the emphasis on the difference in

gender, the more we are making it difficult

for us to be accepted as successful”

2928

Having arrived in the UK in the 1970s, she had spent many years

feeling frustrated and disappointed at the poor quality of Indian

snack food available in supermarkets. “It was tasteless, it was

boring and it wasn’t authentic,” she says. Despite her lack of

business experience, she was convinced she could do better. “I

realised that the market was there,” she says. “People were

prepared to enjoy Indian food and therefore they deserved to eat

good quality, authentic Indian food.”

Ms Warsi had always been good at cooking, and, with some

family funding, began preparing and selling the snacks herself.

S&A Foods grew quickly, winning contracts to supply the

supermarket chains Asda and Safeway, so she soon took on two

chefs to allow her to concentrate on running the business.

Despite the rapid growth, she has never compromised on

quality, she says, and the company has always used fresh

ingredients and authentic recipes.

In 1987, she and her husband sold the company to the Hughes

Food group as a way of raising additional funds to build a

factory. (They later bought the company back when Hughes

Food folded.) The first factory was built in Derby in 1989, and

employed 100 people. Today S&A Foods employs 700 people

and has a turnover of approximately US$130m.

Ms Warsi doesn’t feel that her sex has been a disadvantage or

an advantage. “Being yourself and having confidence in your

product is far more important than whether you’re a woman or

a man,” she says. “What matters is that you know what you’re

doing and where you’re going, and you know that your products

are better and different and you have the right people.”

Business success depends, she believes, on the ability to focus

attention on a number of different things at the same time: “You

have to think about where you’re going, and what your goals

are, but at the same time you must communicate that to other

people. It’s a lot to do with managing people, and a lot to do

with understanding your market.”

It has sometimes been hard, she says, to manage family life as

well as running a business, but she has had plenty of help from

her husband, a full-time GP, and her friends. She has also found

formal support networks very useful. “Networking is vital in

business. It’s very important to exchange views and ideas and

learn from each other, because not everybody has all the

knowledge and all the contacts you need.”

S&A Foods has diversified into supplying Thai, Malaysian and

Chinese food, and also exports to France and Germany. Despite

a dip in turnover in recent years, Ms Warsi plans to continue

expanding the business. Her advice to other entrepreneurs,

male and female alike, is to have a clear vision. “Know where

you’re going,” she says. “Be confident about your products, that

they’re different and unique. Be yourself, and be open to

learning. Employ the right people who are passionate about the

business, who are capable and who take pride in delivering.”

When Perween Warsi set up S&A Foods in 1986, she was 30 years

old and had two sons aged eight and 10. Case study:

PerweenWarsi

“Being yourself and having confidence in

your product is far more important than

whether you’re a woman or a man”

Ms Giunta comes from what she describes as a typical Italian

family, in which the boys were expected to go out to work and

the girls to stay at home and have children. “I think a lot of my

assertiveness has arisen from the fact that, from the beginning, I

had to tell everyone in my family ‘I’ve got a brain too,’” she says.

After acquiring a degree in French language and civilisation from

the Sorbonne in Paris, she joined Coutts & Co as a Portfolio

Manager. Ms Giunta quickly realised that “building wealth for

other people was not my vocation” and joined IBM, in the mid-

1980s, on an entry-level programme. At a time when businesses

were beginning to grasp the potential that computers offered,

Ms Giunta’s job was to deploy enterprise solutions for large

customers. “IBM wanted me to be a sales rep, but I just wanted

to be a project manager – someone who sees how people use IT

and how it drives their business. And, for eight years, that’s

what I did. I ran large projects,” she says.

She admits that her main skills were not in IT. “The skills that made

me succeed were my assertiveness, my curiosity and my ability to

communicate with people,” she explains. Her greatest strength,

however, is “the fact that I can easily map out tasks and resources

to get to the end goal. I make a plan and then work the plan.”

From IBM, she moved to Legent – later acquired by Computer

Associates – where she worked first in marketing and then in

research and development. In 1999, she was hired as President

and CEO of Managed Objects, which was at the time a small

business providing software to help organisations manage

their IT infrastructure.

In the male-dominated environment of IT, Ms Giunta believes that

being a woman has had both drawbacks and advantages. “At the

beginning, you might have to work a little bit harder, to make

people get away from the fact that you’re different,” she says. On

the other hand, she adds, an individual woman in a crowd of men

will stand out. “When I am at a big conference and give a

presentation, there is more chance that people will remember me.”

Her career has also benefited, she believes, from her linguistic

ability. At IBM, the fact that she could communicate with

members of project teams across Europe in their own language

was enormously helpful. She also takes more care than some of

her male counterparts, she believes, in maintaining a personal

relationship with her staff. At work parties, she makes an effort

to remember the names of employees’ spouses and children.

IT can be a tough sector for women to work in, acknowledges

Ms Giunta, because managers are usually required to be mobile.

Women in their thirties often face the assumption that they will

have children and be unavailable for particular opportunities.

“The only way you can take that away is to demonstrate your

availability and to be assertive about your skills,” she says.

But perhaps the greatest challenge, she says, is to be assertive

without being overbearing. “It is the toughest balancing act that

anyone has to do,” she concludes.

As CEOs go, Siki Giunta is one of a kind. An Italian woman who can

speak four languages and has a background in the arts and

humanities, she has presided over the transformation of US software

company Managed Objects from a start-up with eight employees to

a global business with 150 employees and revenues of US$30m.

3130

Case study:

Siki Giunta

“The skills that made me succeed were my

assertiveness, my curiosity and my ability to

communicate with people”

Women’s wealth and economic influence around the world is on

the increase. What’s more, this report reveals a clear shift from the

traditional view of women’s prosperity deriving from inheritance

and marriage. It points out that more women are increasingly

making their money through entrepreneurship and business.

Despite this progress in socioeconomic standing, our findings

show that women are still more cautious and display less

confidence towards taking risks with their money, whether in

personal finance or business matters.

This is evident in their investment behaviour. Their focus tends

to be more purpose driven - seeking to protect their assets -

while men display greater confidence, professing a deeper

knowledge of personal finance matters.

The challenge for financial institutions is to take notice of these

differences and recognise that a one size fits all approach to

how they communicate with their clients doesn’t work.

Over the past 10 years the opportunity for women to increase,

invest and enjoy their wealth has grown significantly. With

predictions that the ‘female wealth explosion’ is set to expand

further during the next decade, organisations targeting wealthy

women are encouraged to respond to the innovation from the

financial industry in its endeavours to connect with this

powerful market segment.

32

ConclusionWomen and a wealth of opportunity

33

Written by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of Barclays

Wealth, this report examines the relationship between wealth

and gender, and explores differences between the attitudes of

women and men to wealth matters. It is based on three main

strands of research: a global survey of around 600 affluent, high

net worth and ultra high net worth individuals; a series of in-

depth interviews with experts on wealth and gender; and a

number of case studies of leading female entrepreneurs and

business women. Our thanks are due to the survey respondents

and interviewees for their time and insight.

About this report

Whilst every effort has been taken to verify the accuracy of this

information, neither The Economist Intelligence Unit Ltd. nor

Barclays Wealth can accept any responsibility or liability for

reliance by any person on this report or any of the information,

opinions or conclusions set out in the report.

This document is intended solely for informational purposes,

and is not intended to be a solicitation or offer, or

recommendation to acquire or dispose of any investment or to

engage in any other transaction, or to provide any investment

advice or service.

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