The $34 trillion wake-up call for financial advisors

A $34 trillion transfer of wealth is placing women at the center of financial decision making. But many advisory models still reflect outdated assumptions about who the investor is.

That misalignment is most visible when clients need advice the most.

Early in my career, I sat across from a woman who had just lost her spouse. She now held responsibility for the wealth their household had built over decades. She apologized repeatedly, for not knowing enough, for asking questions, for being emotional.

What struck me was not her uncertainty, but that the system around her had never been designed to include her.

Wealth is rarely built by one person alone. It is shaped by households, families, and the systems behind every financial decision. Yet the advisory model still centers on a single financial decision maker.

That model is now under pressure.

By 2030, women in the United States are expected to control one of the largest concentrations of investable assets in modern history, according to McKinsey. That shift is being driven by two overlapping forces.

A significant portion of wealth will be transferred to surviving spouses. Trillions more will move to the next generation, where women are increasingly inheriting, earning, and directing financial decisions. At the same time, a growing share of that wealth is being created and controlled by women themselves, as entrepreneurs, executives, and primary earners.

These are not the same investors. And they should not be served by the same relationship model.

A surviving spouse is often stepping into an existing financial structure during a period of transition. An inheritor is often starting from a different place, with their own priorities, timelines, and perspectives on risk, liquidity, and purpose.

Treating these groups as one segment, or assuming they will adopt the same frameworks as prior generations, is a strategic mistake.

The industry often frames this moment as a retention problem. The data suggests something more fundamental. It is also a missed growth opportunity. Firms risk losing relationships with women who are leading businesses, building wealth, and making complex financial decisions if their advice, teams, and engagement models are not designed to meet them where they are.

Research from McKinsey shows that 70 percent of widowed women change financial advisors within one year, and 60 percent report that they did not feel understood. This matters even more given that women live about five years longer than men on average.

The industry they turn to does not yet reflect them. Only 24 percent of Certified Financial Planners are women. As a CEO in an industry where women remain underrepresented in leadership, I see firsthand how representation shapes trust, engagement, and the ability to build lasting client relationships.

These are not isolated statistics. They reflect an industry shaped around a male behavioral profile.

For decades, advisory models have been built on assumptions about how investors behave. Many of those assumptions align more closely with patterns commonly observed in male investors. Performance framing, frequent benchmarking, and transaction-oriented communication reinforce behaviors like overtrading and short-term decision making.

Behavioral research highlights a consistent pattern. Male investors trade roughly 45 percent more often than women, reducing returns by close to a full percentage point annually. Women tend to trade less, diversify more broadly, remain invested through volatility, and connect financial decisions to broader life priorities.

These tendencies are often associated with stronger long-term results.

The advisory experience has not been designed around these behaviors. In many cases, it works against them.

This is the opportunity.

In our experience, and across a growing number of leading advisory firms, the relationship model is being redefined. This is how we have built our approach, and where the industry is heading.

First, the focus shifts from the individual to the household. This starts at the very beginning of the client relationship. Both partners are actively engaged in planning discussions, decision making, and communication from the outset. When a transition occurs, the relationship continues without disruption because it was never dependent on a single person.

Second, planning is integrated across disciplines. Investment strategy, tax planning, retirement income, and estate decisions are developed together, not in isolation. For many women, particularly those navigating a transition or inheriting wealth, confidence comes from understanding how decisions connect, not from reviewing performance in isolation.

Third, the delivery of advice evolves. This means spending more time on context, tradeoffs, and long-term implications. It means creating space for questions without assumption. It means aligning portfolios with real goals such as income stability, family support, philanthropy, and legacy, rather than focusing solely on relative returns.

Fourth, representation and perspective within advisory teams shape how clients are understood and served. Expanding female advisory talent is not a diversity initiative. It is essential to delivering advice that reflects the investor.

Finally, inheritors require a different entry point. Many are not looking to replicate the financial structures they receive. They are looking to redefine them. That requires a planning process that starts with their goals, not with inherited portfolios.

The broader lesson is straightforward. If women invest differently, the solution is not to change the investor. It is to change the experience.

The firms that succeed in this next phase will not be those that simply acknowledge the wealth transfer. They will be the ones that redesign their relationships, their communication, and their advice to reflect how wealth is built and how decisions are made.

The wealth transfer is already underway.

What moves with it will not just be assets. It will be expectations. The firms that understand this shift will not follow the next era of advice. They will shape it.

Jennifer des Groseilliers is CEO of The Mather Group, a fee-only fiduciary registered investment advisory firm managing nearly $14 billion in assets across 13 offices nationwide.