American women are on track to control $34 trillion in financial assets by 2030, up from $7.3 trillion a decade ago – a nearly fivefold increase that McKinsey & Company projects will push women's share of U.S. investable assets to roughly 38 percent. Yet the advisor workforce built to serve them hasn't kept pace: women make up only about 26 percent of practicing financial advisors, according to a 2026 analysis by industry data tracker AdvizorPro.
That gap between rising female wealth and a male-dominated advisor base has created an opening. A small cohort of advisors, most of them women, are building their practices deliberately around female clients rather than treating them as a subset of a generic book of business.
Mary Beth Storjohann, CEO at Allora Wealth, says many of her clients aren't just managing their own money – they're managing everyone else's needs, too. They often serve as the financial safety net for children, aging parents, partners, employees or extended family, and those competing responsibilities rarely make it into a conventional financial plan.
"Traditional planning tends to optimize for investment returns, while I optimize for resilience, flexibility, and decision making. I help clients build enough financial margin that they have options when life inevitably changes," Storjohann said.
Asked what has actually worked to attract and grow a women-focused client base, Storjohann pointed to consistency. She publishes regularly on Substack, writes openly about the emotional side of money and shares practical financial education without talking down to readers – an approach she says builds trust long before someone becomes a client.
"I've found that women don't want to be marketed to as women. They want to feel understood as people navigating complex financial lives," Storjohann said.
After nearly two decades as a planner, Storjohann said she realized many women weren't looking for someone to outperform the market – they wanted someone to help carry the weight of their financial lives. She pushed back on the industry assumption that women need more education or confidence before they can invest well.
"My experience is that they already have both. What they need is a thought partner who understands the complexity they're managing and can help them make thoughtful decisions without adding more pressure. I built my firm around creating that kind of partnership," Storjohann said.
Kristin Larson, founder and wealth advisor at NewSpring Wealth Partners, said the women she serves are "incredibly capable," often leading organizations, managing teams and raising families simultaneously. Their challenge, in her view, isn't financial sophistication – it's bandwidth.
"What advisory firms sometimes miss is the mental burden that comes with financial complexity. Clients may be wondering whether they have overlooked an investment decision, tax strategy, estate planning task, or other important opportunity. We use a wealth planning calendar to proactively manage the investment, tax, financial planning, and estate issues that require attention throughout the year," Larson said.
Larson said her firm's most effective growth strategy has been building an experience that mirrors the standards her clients hold themselves to – clear steps, a wealth planning calendar and actionable checklists that set expectations up front.
"We also create content around the financial questions our clients are actually thinking about – from career and family decisions to retirement, estate planning, and enjoying the wealth they have built. That combination has helped us build strong client relationships and earn introductions to friends, colleagues, and family members who are looking for a similar experience," Larson said.
Laura Combs, head of women and wealth at Mercer Advisors, said retirement math is genuinely different for women, and most planning frameworks don't account for it. Women tend to live longer, are more likely to have had career interruptions for caregiving, and face a real probability of managing their finances alone at some point.
"What we do differently is plan for the life a woman is actually living, not a linear career path that may not apply to her. That means asking different questions upfront: about career structure, about caregiving, about what financial independence looks like for her specifically. The advisors who figure that out early are the ones who are likely to earn trust," Combs said.
Combs said referrals have been central to Mercer's growth in this space – often coming from clients who found the firm during a major life transition, such as a divorce, loss or business exit.
"We've built a lot of our Women & Wealth client base through referrals from women who came to us during a major life transition... and left feeling like they finally had someone in their corner," Combs said.
Nearly half of Mercer's client-facing team are women, which Combs said isn't accidental. "We strive to be the place where women fiduciary professionals can do the best work of their careers, because that's also what makes us better for clients."
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