Getting more women into the financial planning and wealth management industry could help to close the gender pension gap, financial experts say, a disparity that is leaving women poorer than men in retirement despite living longer. Women account for 18 percent of UK financial advisers, according to the Financial Conduct Authority. In the U.S., private wealth intelligence group Fintrx puts women’s share of client-facing, revenue-generating adviser roles at approximately 20 percent.
Research in March by banking provider HSBC UK showed that women who use financial planners are more likely to employ female advisers than their male counterparts. "We are seeing an increase in women looking for regulated financial advice to help support them in building their wealth and meeting their financial goals," said Rebecca Owers, Head of Wealth and Specialists at HSBC UK. "Many women want to have access to a person that they feel can relate to them, which is why many have a preference for working with a woman." When women stop working, they live around four years longer than men, but receive pensions that are about a quarter less, according to 2025 research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Leaving the workforce to care for children or elderly parents, as well as ageism that prevents women from job progression, are a few factors that can shorten a woman’s career and stunt their retirement fund, the OECD added. Addressing those inequalities requires more than financial advice. But greater choice of adviser could encourage some women to seek help with planning for retirement.
Jessica Craig, a financial adviser at Lanyon Financial Planning, says having more women in her industry would help to educate women to take control of their finances and address the pension pay gap. "Going into maternity leave, career breaks, and caring responsibilities have significant impacts on financial security. That is leading to women having significantly smaller pension pots by the time retirement comes about," Craig told Newsweek in a phone interview.
Nearly 60 percent of retired Brits living in poverty are women, 2026 government statistics showed. In the U.S., women are far more likely to be in poverty as they age, according to charity AARP Foundation, which analyzed 2026 U.S. Poverty rates for women over 65 were almost 17 percent compared to about 14 percent for men.
"A woman's financial journey looks so different to a man's financial journey. There's not enough out there to educate people to help build their future and financial security," said Craig. "If we have more female financial advisers out there, they can empathize, they can understand those gender-specific financial implications." Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Mike Hirst.
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