By Amey Stone
Here's an opportunity for women advisors: attracting female clients who feel like their current advisor is a mansplainer. A new study from Nationwide found that about 30% of women investors said their advisor sometimes "mansplains." A better approach is "asking questions, listening first, advising second," says Suzanne Ricklin, an executive with Nationwide Retirement Solutions.
Nationwide also polled financial professionals and found that nearly half of female advisors are developing strategies specifically for women going through major life transitions, compared with just a third of male advisors.
Feel free to share this newsletter with colleagues. If it was forwarded to you, you can sign up here to receive it monthly.
Women on the Move
Wealth advisor Ali Bathgate Hild joined Cresset's Denver office from J.P. Morgan Private Bank -- Kristen Kimmell is rejoining RBC Wealth Management, where she spent much of her career, to become the west divisional director. She was most recently executive vice president of business development at Osaic -- Annamaria Vitelli was promoted to chief wealth officer of Provident Bank and president of Beacon Trust, Provident Bank's wealth management subsidiary. She was previously Beacon's chief growth officer -- Sneha Shah was named chief AI strategist at financial technology company SEI. She continues as head of SEI Next, SEI's innovation unit -- Lauren N. Urbanski is a partner and chief compliance & administrative officer at N10 Holdings, which recently launched with support from Dynasty Financial Partners. She was previously a private wealth senior registered client associate at Wells Fargo Advisors -- Natalie Fantus joined Advisor Growth Strategies as director of program management. She previously held executive roles in independent advisor services at LPL Financial and Charles Schwab -- Wealth manager and partner Sarah Kenda joined Raymond James from Commonwealth Financial Network along with her team at Financial Strategies Retirement Partners, based in Bedford, N.H. -- Jaslinne Lopez joined Rockefeller Capital Management as the team chief operating officer for Graves Wealth Partners. She was previously a wealth management associate at Morgan Stanley -- Amanda Connaughton, a financial planner at Financial Solutions, is the recipient of the Savvy Ladies Volunteer of the Year Award, sponsored by Invest in Others. Savvy Ladies offers free financial advice to women -- Financial advisors Jeanne Gibson Sullivan and Jennifer Kundrot joined Beacon Pointe from LPL Financial along with the Financially in Tune practice in Stoneham, Mass. -- Financial advisor Karlynn Schramm recently joined Raymond James, where she leads Golden Retirement Plan Solutions in Denver, Colo. She was previously at Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors.
Sarah Mouser, executive vice president of financial planning at Merit Financial Advisors
On attracting recent college graduates to work at your firm: "Students are looking for mentorship, and they're actually looking to be more in-office than not. New talent is entering the industry, and some of them are taking the jobs that are not hybrid or remote because they want to be in-office. They want that exposure. They're not necessarily taking the jobs that are going to pay them the most money. They're going to the firm that they feel is going to mentor them the best." Read More>
Najla Arekat, senior financial advisor at Wells Fargo Advisors
On planning for the possibility of divorce: "There is a persistent misconception that planning for divorce undermines commitment or signals pessimism. In reality, it reflects thoughtful stewardship of wealth. Just as individuals purchase insurance without expecting disaster, or draft estate plans while very much alive, divorce planning is an act of preparation, not prediction." Read More>
Mellody Hobson, co-CEO of Ariel Investments
On valuations for women's sports teams: "When I call women's sports the small-caps of sports, I anchor that conversation in valuations. Forbes and Sporticos say that the most valuable men's team in the world is Real Madrid, valued at $16.5 billion. In America, the most valuable team is the Dallas Cowboys, valued at $12.5 billion. Meanwhile, the most valuable women's team right now -- and this was a big jump in valuation -- is the WNBA basketball team Golden State Valkyries. It has had only one season and is valued at $850 million." Read More>
Julie Genjac, vice president and managing director of Applied Insights at Hartford Funds
On how personality tests can help with management challenges: "I've found that tools like DISC or StrengthFinders, provide a great foundation for feedback conversations -- especially when behavioral issues are in play. This solution is far more advantageous to the team than options that may seem easier at first, such as sweeping the issue under the rug or tackling it at a one-on-one annual review that is months away. " Read More>
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 11, 2026 12:44 ET (16:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments