Women want financial peace of mind — not stack of cash: Research

When it comes to women investors, the conventional wisdom is often wrong, according to research by LPL Financial LLC. "There is a sea of sameness when it comes to marketing materials and approach," said Marissa Fox-Foley, executive vice president of marketing at LPL Financial, the nation's largest broker-dealer and a unit of LPL Investment Holdings Inc. After conducting research that included a survey and focus group studies, Ms. Fox-Foley's group found that women go through identifiable life stages that require different approaches. A behavioral psychologist helped condense the findings into a guidebook, available to advisers along with marketing materials and best-practices guidance through the web portal WomenInvest, which was launched this week. The guidebook offers language suggestions and even nonverbal communication advisers should use to build stronger relationships with women. It also provides specific guidance on working with women who are in a relationship, in transition, in business or in the retirement stage of their lives. One of the group's most intriguing findings is that women investors place far more importance on using financial planning to gain peace of mind than on the concept of accumulating wealth. "Women see financial planning as a way to protect themselves against the unexpected," Ms. Fox-Foley said. "Linking the financial planning relationship to achieving peace of mind is more relevant to female investors than wealth accumulation." Another key finding is that even when the husband takes the primary role in financial planning, the wife plays a more active role behind the scenes than many advisers realize, Ms. Fox-Foley said. Frequently, couples discuss financial issues extensively between themselves, even though the husband takes the lead at the financial adviser's office.