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Serve them right!
Women demand a better wealth management experience
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Women control 22% of wealth in the Middle East and need a targeted approach to meet their financial needs, according to a study by The Boston Consulting Group. Qatar Today finds out more.
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ccording to a recent study by The Boston Consulting Group, women controlled an estimated 27%, or about $20 trillion, of the world’s wealth in 2009. In the Middle East, women are estimated to control 22%, or about $500 billion of the region's wealth. Another findin that surfaced was that a majority of women in the Middle East think that wealth managers could do a better job of serving them. This is in line with global trends whereby nearly a quarter of women say that there is a “significant need for improvement,” according to a new global study by The Boston Consulting Group. The findings released recently in a BCG White Paper titled ‘Leveling the Playing Field: Upgrading the Wealth Management Experience for Women’ are based on a survey of 500 women as well as more than 70 interviews with privatebanking specialists and wealthy women around the world. Qatar Today talks to Douglas Beal, Partner & Managing Director at BCG Middle East to find out more about this study.
tribute the sudden change in figures?
Globally, assets under management declined by 10% (for men and women) in 2008, and increased by 12% in 2009. This is mainly due to fluctuations in asset values. One might note that between 2008 and 2009, the wealth of women increased by 16%, which is higher than the overall growth. In addition, we project women's wealth to grow by about eight percent annually for the next several years, compared to six percent overall growth. There are several reasons for this: First, women are becoming more active in the workforce, thus making them able to add to their personal wealth. Second, income gaps (the difference between what a man and woman makes in the same job) are declining. Third, more and more women are playing the role of the family ‘Chief Investment Officer’ as they gain the confidence and skills to do so. And fourth, women are inheriting more wealth than they once did.
Has this growth in figures been uniform throughout the While the share of wealth con- world? trolled by women has changed No. We tend to see that the growth of only gradually over time, the women’s wealth is higher in the more deamount of women-controlled veloping world, and less in the more dewealth has been on a roller- veloped world. For example, we expect coaster ride since the start of women's wealth to grow by an annual the financial crisis. Why is this rate of 14% in Asia (ex Japan), 19% in so? To what factors do you at- Africa, and 13% in Latin America, where
Qatar Today september 10
9/28/10 2:01:30 PM