‘Women & The Great Wealth Transfer’ Podcast

As a regular facilitator for the Owen James Events, I was asked to facilitate for LV= at MoM in June 2026 and their session entitled: ‘Women, wealth and winning the next generation of clients’.  As part of my research I decided to interview three great female Financial Advisers – Jacqueline Brown (Bespoke IFA), Esther Clemmey (Integrity 365) and Georgia Gebler (Attivo) about their experiences with their female clients.  There were so many interesting insights from the discussion and this is now available as a Mint Blue Consulting podcast – Women & The Great Wealth Transfer

Why is this topic so important? Over the next two decades women are expected to receive around 60% of intergenerational wealth in the UK, rising to as much as 70% in the US. This is largely due to longer life expectancy and traditional inheritance patterns, with women more likely to ultimately inherit family homes, pensions and investment portfolios.

But this is not just a story about wealth changing hands. It is a story about how that wealth is understood, retained and invested.

Engagement happens at moments of change

It’s important to remember that it was only when the ‘Sex Discrimination Act 1975’ came into force in the UK that women could apply for mortgages and open bank accounts without requiring a husband’s signature or a male guarantor for the first time.  This may be 50 years ago, but women aged 70+ today grew up in the pre-1975 financial system and some are encountering formal financial advice, investment decisions or borrowing in their own name for the first time, following key life events including bereavement, inheritance, divorce or later-life transitions.

Conversely, women currently under 70 today are far more likely to have or have had mortgages, loans and investments in their own / joint names, but interestingly many women, still choose to defer to their partners for financial security and decisions in patterns set by their own parents regarding financial matters.  So, with the majority of the great wealth transfer moving to women, does this mean a different approach is needed?

Financial Education is the key

Wider research shows that women can be more risk-adverse on average, but our panel reported that once women feel informed and confident of the detail, their approach to investing and risk levels can be equally, if not more robust than their male counterparts.  This means engaging both partners equally in these financial conversations at the outset to support the individual risk assessments.

This also means the use of visual tools, modelling outcomes, and translating technical concepts into clear, relevant insights have never been more important for engagement, regardless of gender and particularly in the wider UK drive for increased financial literacy.

Different generations, different pressures

Research also shows how wealth is used also varies by generation. Older women are more likely to act as stewards, prioritising preservation and protection of assets built up over the years built up by their partners and also more likely to require long-term care as women continue to far outnumber men at older age and an area LV= is passionate about supporting.

Younger women, by contrast, are often balancing competing priorities, housing costs, childcare and lifestyle pressures which can impact long-term accumulation plans, particularly the current sandwich generation.

This underscores a larger issue as the estimated wealth transfer is significant, but once transferred it is not guaranteed to be preserved or grown, emphasising the need for early and ongoing financial engagement before different life events happen.

The advice gap and the opportunity

The adviser role is already rapidly extending into behavioural and financial coaching, but despite this shift, gaps remain. Many women still frequently feel excluded from joint financial conversations and where relationships with advisers are unestablished, female clients and their children often choose to move elsewhere following key life events taking the assets with them.

For advisers, this represents both a risk and a major opportunity and firms that succeed will:

• Engage both partners equally from the outset
• Ensure women feel equally heard, understood and empowered to make financial decisions
• Build relationships that go beyond transactions

 Underserved segments

This opportunity extends to currently underserved population segments, such as same-sex couples, where engagement strategies are currently often limited or overlooked as these couples are far less likely to seek out financial advice.  Many firms already have some same-sex couples on their books but this is an area that needs more consideration, particularly as the industry looks to increase financial engagement as a whole.

People-led advice

The great wealth transfer is defining shift for the profession and the way in which finance is communicated if this is to be retained following the wealth transfer, both within the industry and also within adviser firms.

Success will also be determined by the ability to build trust, support all clients and ensure financial advice is increasingly available to the wider population from an early age.  In this era of the Great Wealth Transfer, the firms that truly connect and from the outset will be the ones that lead.

With many thanks to Jacqueline Brown (Bespoke IFA), Esther Clemmey (Integrity 365) and Georgia Gebler (Attivo) for all their great insights in this podcast.

Helen Clark is the founder and owner of Mint Blue Consulting, providing Project Management and Consultancy Services.  For enquiries, please contact [email protected]