Women Advising Women: Surprising Facts

Posted on 10/23/201807/13/2019 by S.K. Chakravarthy

For anyone who has even a minimal amount of familiarity with the investment landscape for affluent women, it will be no surprise that there is a surfeit of dissatisfaction these women feel about their advisors.

As an example, there are two excellent research studies outlined in two books: Harness the power of the purse, by Andrea Turner Moffitt, and Women Want More, by Michael Silverstein and Kate Sayre of the Boston Consulting Group (see chapters on financial services).

A frequently touted solution is to increase the representation of women among the advisor population, presumably balancing the provider-client fit and understanding, and also, presumably, leading to better recommendations for the wealthy female client.

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Four Simple Drivers of Investing – an Unscientific Study

Posted on 10/19/201807/13/2019 by S.K. Chakravarthy

For someone steeped in an idealistic or classical economics view of the world, the question of what drives investment actions is easy – it should be logic, rationality and facts.

In fact, even reputed investment product providers appear to adhere to this view, going by a quick drive through of their websites to non-clients.

Could they be wrong?

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A Fresh Look at Investing Value Propositions for Women

Posted on 10/16/201807/14/2019 by S.K. Chakravarthy

Given the age and importance of the investing industry, and the constant innovation it is exposed to via fin-tech, one would expect some rethink to have occurred in the basic value proposition of the core offering itself: the investment product.

Yet, my initial search has not revealed any exciting or even mildly interesting value propositions beyond the tired “peace of mind” or “be secure in your retirement” pitches. Granted, there are quite a few approaches and ventures that are looking to revolutionize the how of investing, but few seem to be taking a look at the core “what”.

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A Surprising New Form of Financial Innovation

Posted on 10/12/201807/13/2019 by S.K. Chakravarthy

Fin-tech and innovation across finance are all the rage today. But this blog post is not about them.

Technology and its more advanced applications, including artificial intelligence, clearly have the power to propel the practice and power of managing money. However, there is still one last frontier that stubbornly resists all attempts of innovation and technology to improve individuals’ financial positions: our brain.

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The Negative Spiral of Low Financial Self-confidence in Women

Posted on 10/09/201807/14/2019 by S.K. Chakravarthy

A common thread that runs through much of women’s financial lives is their low level of self-confidence. As an example, see my earlier posts here and here. And yet, does it really matter for the “hard stuff”, i.e., real financial outcomes, that their self-confidence in financial matters is lower? Is it just a quaint gender-based personality quirk that can be safely ignored while we get to the hard business of helping women grow their assets?

Not so fast.

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