WSR’s Pathfinder Awards serve a dual purpose. First, the awards honor outstanding achievement among industry professionals from underrepresented groups, as well as firms that demonstrate results supporting these groups. Second, we provide a platform for winners to address the industry on issues of empowerment and advancement.
Concurrent with today’s Pathfinder Awards for Women’s History Month, we bring you two articles expressing the views of winners, including this one addressing our industry on advancing women clients and women in the general public.
These winners are Hayley Wood Bates, Senior Financial Advisor at Signature Estate & Investment Advisors (SEIA); Terri Kallsen, Managing Partner at Rise Growth Partners; Jacqueline Martinez, Managing Partner at Alaris Acquisitions; and Heather Fortner, Chair and CEO of SignatureFD.
We asked each of them: How well is the wealth management industry serving women clients and women in the public presently? What steps can we take to empower and advance women?
Their responses follow.
Hayley Wood Bates, Senior Financial Advisor, SEIA
The wealth management industry has historically been male-dominated, both in professional representation and its client base. As women inherit wealth, build wealth, and take on leadership roles in business and at home, they are increasingly becoming the primary financial decision-makers. Despite this shift, the industry has been slow to adapt, lacking both adequate representation and tailored strategies that address women’s unique financial goals.
In my practice, we prioritize financial literacy, personalized investment and planning advice, and empowering women to take an active role in shaping their wealth journey. This means addressing their unique concerns, exploring their vision for wealth accumulation, and providing education on optimizing their financial opportunities — for themselves and the people and organizations they cherish. Part of this is making the planning process approachable by creating clear deliverables and connecting their plan to what they care about most.
Women innately have high emotional intelligence, are risk averse, and value a collaborative approach. By structuring a planning process around these characteristics, our industry has the opportunity to shape our influence over their decision-making and for the betterment of themselves, their family, friends and communities.
It's an exciting time to be a wealth planner and a female one at that.
Terri Kallsen, Managing Partner, Rise Growth Partners
The wealth management industry has made some progress in serving women, but there are still significant gaps. According to Cerulli, women are expected to inherit over $50 trillion through 2048.
In my work with financial advisors, I consistently suggest the need for personalized wealth strategies for women who have statistically longer life expectancy, career interruptions, and may value impact investing.
Women are as financially literate as men, and nearly 70% are the primary financial decision makers in their families, managing the budget, spending and saving. The wealth management industry should continue to represent the clients they service by offering clients choice of gender for their financial advisor.
The CFP Board is dedicated to improving the gender gap in the financial planning industry. By addressing these gaps and implementing inclusive financial practices, we can all serve more clients and meet more needs.
Jacqueline Martinez, Managing Partner, Alaris Acquisitions
I’m fortunate to work with an advisor I met through an M&A deal years ago. Her integrity and dedication stood out during the acquisition process, and today, she remains a trusted sounding board for my family’s financial decisions. This level of confidence should be the standard, yet the wealth management industry has room to better serve women.
Many women weren’t raised to discuss money, and financial education is often lacking from an early age. Widespread financial scandals have only deepened distrust in advisors. To empower women, we must expand financial literacy, normalize open conversations about wealth, and ensure advisors actively engage female clients.
Another key to advancing women is honest, constructive feedback. When delivered with trust, it shapes careers and builds confidence.
At Alaris, I provide candid, sometimes challenging feedback to foster growth. I believe in recognizing and elevating those who go above and beyond — not promoting for representation’s sake, but creating meaningful opportunities for women to succeed on their own merits. When given the chance, they will rise to the occasion.
Heather Fortner, Chair And CEO, SignatureFD
As women own a greater share of global wealth and reach new professional heights, our industry has made strides in how we serve them. But there is still work to do.
Traditional advisory models have been transactional and formulaic, rather than recognizing that wealth is deeply personal and relational.
For women clients, many of whom are leading businesses, driving change and balancing family obligations, financial decision-making is about more than just numbers. It’s about aligning resources with values.
As an industry, we must provide tools and frameworks to help women contextualize wealth within their evolving priorities. We must also foster community, creating spaces where women can engage in transparent discussions about financial health, legacy and impact.
At the firm level, we must be relentless in our pursuit of representation. Leadership in our industry should reflect the clients we seek to serve, and we must create pathways for more women to shape the future of our industry.
When women have access to collaborative advisors who deeply understand their experiences and spaces to thoughtfully align their resources with what matters most to them, they can succeed individually and uplift entire communities, redefining financial well-being for generations to come.
Jeff Berman, Contributing Editor and Reporter at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at jeff.berman@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
