Mercer Advisors forms Women & Wealth unit to court $34 trillion opportunity

Mercer Advisors has set up Women & Wealth, a new formal practice within the $96 billion mega-RIA to specialize in delivering wealth management services to clients who are women.

Executive managing partner Laura Combs, who has worked at Mercer since 2008, will lead the new practice as Head of Women & Wealth. She says about 100 Mercer professionals are connected to the practice upon its launch. A large portion of wealth is expected to shift towards women in the ongoing Great Wealth Transfer with McKinsey forecasting U.S. women to control $34 trillion by 2030, representing about 38% of total U.S. assets, and more than triple the $10 trillion women controlled in 2018.

“What we are really looking at is female-led households in particular, as well as single women, divorced women and widowed women. We're looking at that demographic and how we continue to attract and welcome more clients in that space as really an area of focus for us. A new driver of business for us has been those key segments,” Combs told InvestmentNews.

Mercer manages $96 billion in client assets with over 1,500 employees across more than 110 locations. The RIA says that nearly 50% of its client-facing team members are women and women make up 40% of its executive team. Mercer also has about 40 advisors who serve as a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst.

“Studies would show, and my own lived experience is that women are probably less concerned about rate of return as the main driver, and more about, am I going to be okay? Are my kids going to be okay? Is my family going to be okay? Can I retire? Very much more goal driven,” said Combs. “The other thing is really the intersection of investment, tax and estate—that triple threat coming into play as women are earning more money, they're paying higher taxes.”

Combs added that Mercer’s new practice should support the firm’s appeal in the M&A market for acquiring RIAs that are led by women. Women make up about 24% of the financial advisor workforce nationally, according to a 2025 report from AdvizorPro. 

“The demand from women who are earning more money, inheriting more money, the demand is saying I would like a female advisor—not all the time, but many times,” said Combs. “One of the reasons I wanted to establish this Women and Wealth national practice is to make sure that we are a destination for not only women clients who want their wealth management needs met, but also to be the firm of choice for women fiduciary professionals to do amazing work in their careers.”