Alliance research on women investors to be published for our upcoming Annual Summit shows surprising inertia in the wealth management space around developing holistic Women’s Market programs globally. Startlingly, women already contribute up to US$120 billion in annual revenues to the retail investment market (BNYM and UNF), with significant upside potential: UBS estimates that women’s wealth will increase 6 percent faster year over year than men’s in the next 5 years. While women’s wealth continues to increase, and two-thirds of women want to invest in causes that matter to them (BAML), a small portion of wealth is in fact being reinvested into women: Less than 2 percent of venture capital in the US goes to female-founded companies.
Changing this situation is the focus of the last morning of next month’s Summit, which kicks off with The Billion Dollar Breakfast, during which venture capital general partners will share why and what they are doing to target women-founded companies, and investors will share why they are putting their money into these funds. The aim is to catalyze more involvement. A second discussion will look at the relative underdevelopment of our Women’s Market blueprint in the wealth management space. This is curious given that the return on investment of providing the comprehensive value proposition of finance, information, education and networking to women investors is undoubtedly highest of all women’s segments given the relative size of the average customer wallet.
The Summit will discuss solutions for all segments of women and for creating gender inclusive companies. We are delighted to have AXA CEO Thomas Buberl as keynote speaker to share his vision for Women’s Markets across AXA’s many countries of operation. We are expecting a large turnout in Paris. For the full agenda, which is updated on an ongoing basis as new speakers are confirmed, please click here.
This month, we welcome our first Argentine member, Banco Galicia, to the Alliance. As the oldest and one of the largest privately owned banks in the country, Banco Galicia has also impressively attained the highest ESG scores in the country (according to Thomson Reuters) while being awarded the Best Company to work for in the country. In this issue we interview Sustainability Manager Constanza Gorler and learn about her vision for becoming the first bank of choice for women in Argentina.
In member news, we profile BRAC Bank’s launching of an app for their TARA Women Banking proposition that includes signposting to education and networking events, and location services to enable access to retail and restaurant partners at which TARA customers can get special officers. Meanwhile, BLC Bank continued its extraordinary leadership in Lebanon holding the first-ever conference exploring the country’s gender gaps. Proceedings will be formulated into a White Paper to be presented to regulators, policymakers and other government officials to drive this agenda forward.
Last but not least, we are proud to share our Global Business Case Tool for Financial Services Providers. Developed with our members, the Tool combines the latest external market data with a model that helps Financial Services Providers (FSPs) estimate their own potential with the Women’s Market, laying the groundwork for a robust business case for making the female economy a priority. This tool is publicly available so that more and more FSPs can take a strategic approach to the Women’s Market.
We very much look forward to seeing you next month in Paris.
Thank you
