Most Women Say That Wealth Managers Could Do a Better Job of Meeting Their Financial Needs, According to a New Study by

July 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

BOSTON, MA, Jul 29 (MARKET WIRE) —
A majority of women think that wealth managers could do a better job of
serving them, and nearly a quarter of them say that there is a
“significant need for improvement,” according to a new global study by
The Boston Consulting Group.

The findings — released today in a 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 private-banking specialists and wealthy women around the world.

The fact that women, as a group, are overlooked or undervalued belies
their significance as wealth management clients. According to the study:

– Women controlled an estimated 27 percent, or about $20 trillion, of
the world’s wealth in 2009(1)
– The percentages were highest in North America (33 percent), Australia
and New Zealand (31 percent), and Asia (29 percent, ex Japan), and
much lower in Latin America (18 percent), Japan (14 percent), and
Africa (11 percent)
– In Europe, the percentage was higher in Western Europe (26 percent)
than in Russia (21 percent) and Eastern Europe (19 percent, ex Russia)

While the share of wealth controlled by women has changed only
gradually over time, the amount of women-controlled wealth has been on a
rollercoaster ride since the start of the financial crisis, mirroring the
overall movement in global assets under management (AuM). After falling
sharply in 2008, it soared by 16 percent in 2009, to $20.2 trillion. It
grew by nearly 30 percent in Asia (ex Japan) and by 24 percent in
Australia and New Zealand. In other regions, it increased by anywhere
from 13 to 18 percent, except in Japan, where it grew by only 2 percent.

BCG projects that the amount of wealth controlled by women will grow at
an average annual rate of 8 percent from year-end 2009 through 2014,
slightly above the 7 percent rate from year-end 2004 through 2009.
Emerging markets are expected to lead the growth over the next several
years.

An Uneven Playing Field

According to the survey, conducted in early 2010, 55 percent of
respondents said that wealth managers could do a better job of meeting
the advisory needs of women; 24 percent said that private banks could
significantly improve how they serve women.

“The dissatisfaction stems from the unshakable perception that men get
more attention, better advice, and sometimes even better terms and
deals,” said Peter Damisch, a BCG partner and a coauthor of the study.
“We heard this sense of subordination time and again in our interviews.”

The problems that cause women to feel like second-class clients are
deep-seated. They stem from experiences in the advisory process as well
as the communication style of private banks and relationship managers
(RMs).

– Many women said that their RMs assume that they have a low risk
tolerance and thus provide only a narrow range of investment solutions
– Some said that they were given “dumbed down” versions of the standard
offering
– Several said that their advisors do not take them seriously, which
made for off-putting and sometimes humiliating interactions

The problems are compounded by the superficial strategies that some
wealth managers use to target women. “Some of the most common approaches
revolve around products, pitches, or promotions that can easily come
across as patronizing or contrived,” said Monish Kumar, a BCG senior
partner and a coauthor of the study. “They can alienate the very people
they’re meant to attract.”

Wealth managers need to understand that there are material differences
between men and women clients. Women, for example, often seek holistic
advice to fulfill long-term goals. Most want their banking relationships
grounded in empathy and personalized advice, while men tend to view their
banking relationships through a business-oriented lens.

“These generalizations should not be taken as holy writ,” cautioned Anna
Zakrzewski, a BCG principal and a coauthor of the study, “but they do
shed some light on why so many private banks — despite targeting other
groups of clients, such as doctors or lawyers — still have a service gap
between male and female clients.

“For example, many women feel that their advisors focus too much on
short-term results and disregard their long-term goals, which often
revolve around major milestones in a woman’s life, such as the birth of a
child. This is in part a function of incentive systems and company
cultures that are focused on near-term performance, but it is also a
shortcut and a symptom of superficial advisor-client relationships.”

Upgrading the Client Experience for Women

Wealth managers can attract new clients and reinforce relationships by
fine-tuning, rather than reinventing, their approach. “Most banks will
find that the problems are less about what they provide for women, in
terms of products, and more about how they deliver their service,” Kumar
said.

Wealth managers can put their RMs in a better position to initiate or
strengthen relationships simply by calling attention to areas where women
generally feel undervalued or overlooked. More ambitious wealth managers
can develop robust training programs and incentive systems to ensure that
they are serving women effectively.

Most important, wealth managers should recognize that the necessary
changes are likely to be subtle rather than sweeping. “As critical as it
is for wealth managers to improve how they serve women, it is equally
important that they understand the cost of artless overtures,” Damisch
noted. “Overreacting to the problem with graceless ‘solutions’ will do
more harm than good.”

To receive a copy of the paper or arrange an interview with one of the
authors, please contact Eric Gregoire at +1 617 850 3783 or
gregoire.eric@bcg.com.

(1) Figures are based on wealth owned by clients with at least $250,000
in investable assets, which include cash deposits, money market funds,
listed securities held directly or indirectly through management
investments, and onshore and offshore assets.

About The Boston Consulting Group

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm
and the world’s leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with
clients in all sectors and regions to identify their highest-value
opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform
their businesses. Our customized approach combines deep insight into the
dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels
of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve
sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and
secure lasting results. Founded in 1963, BCG is a private company with 69
offices in 40 countries. For more information, please visit www.bcg.com.

The Boston Consulting Group
Eric Gregoire
Global Media Relations Manager

Tel +1 617 850 3783
Fax +1 617 850 3701
gregoire.eric@bcg.com

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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‘Peak debt’ approaching as house prices outstrip incomes

March 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The growth in household debt and house prices in Australia is unsustainable and the nation must at some stage hit “peak debt’, according to a senior partner in one of the world’s biggest management consultancies.

“In the past ten years our household debt has grown much faster and to a much higher level than it is in places like the the UK and the US where we tend to look at them and say, ‘my goodness, look at that incredibly high level of household debt’,” Michael Rennie, managing partner of McKinsey and Co for Australia and New Zealand, told ABC Radio’s PM program.

“You have to ask yourself, ‘when does it become a problem?’”

Asked about predictions that house prices would double this decade, he said:

“They’re saying they are going to double in the next ten years because of supply and demand: that there’s a lack of supply, and demand is going to increase because of the increase in population in the cities, etcetera.

“But you have to ask yourself, if you look at the research that’s been done over the past couple of years by APRA and others on the percentage of households paying more than 30 per cent [of gross household income on mortgage repayments] which is the comfort level for their mortgages, and incomes aren’t going to double, you’ve got to say somewhere along the line that is all not going to add up.

“We hit peak debt at some point. We hit a level that is well above people’s sustainability.”

A global study by McKinsey and Co is also predicting that the world faces at least five more years of constrained growth as economies “deleverage”, or unwind excessive levels of debt.

Although China will partially insulate Australia, we will not be immune, and it will hit exports.

“About 21 per cent of our goods exports and about 27 per cent of our services exports in the past five years have gone to countries that are going to go through this deleveraging in the next five years,” Michael Rennie says.

His comments come as new estimates from the ABS show a surge in Australia’s population.

More than 450,000 people were added to the population, which grew by 2.1 per cent last year to almost 23 million.

Economists say the rapid population growth will underpin growth in GDP and bolster house prices.

But Michael Rennie argues that, even with the population growth, it is impossible for house prices to keep outstripping incomes.

The growth in population will also add to overall demand and could encourage the RBA to lift interest rates.

“We can imagine this scenario where there is tightening monetary policy ….meaning that people are going to pay more for their mortgages; interest rates are going to go up,” he explained.

“At the same time, you have a supply and demand issue with housing which means the price of houses is going to go up.

“A the same time, incomes are not going to go up at the same level and, at some time, all those three are going to come together and it is not going to be sustainable.”

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World’s ecosystems can have key role in countering climate change

September 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, September 3 (ANI): A new research has determined that investing in restoration and maintenance of the Earth’s multi-trillion dollar ecosystems can have a key role in countering climate change and climate-proofing vulnerable economies.

This is among the central findings of a new climate issues update by The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), a project launched by Germany and the European Commission in response to a proposal by the G8+5 Environment Ministers (Potsdam, Germany 2007) to develop a global study on the economics of biodiversity loss.

It says the planet’s biological diversity and ‘ecological infrastructure’ are increasingly being put at risk from the impact of climbing greenhouse gases.

Yet natural systems represent one of the biggest untapped allies against the greatest challenge of this generation, according to the research paper, part of a stream of work towards a final study in 2010.

The update underlines that an agreement on funding for forests is a key priority for governments attending the crucial United Nations climate convention meeting in Copenhagen in December.

An estimated 5 gigatonnes or 15 per cent of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions – the principal greenhouse gas – are being absorbed or ‘sequestrated’ by forests every year, making them the “mitigation engine” of the natural world.

This could also be described as ‘green carbon’.

Investing in ecosystem-based measures such as financing Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) could thus not only assist in combating climate change but could also be a key anti-poverty and adaptation measure.

Forests also provide services such as freshwaters, soil stabilization, nutrients for agriculture, eco-tourism opportunities and food, fuel and fibre – all of which will be key to buffering vulnerable communities against the climate change already underway.

TEEB is urging governments to factor these wider benefits into a forest carbon finance package in order to maximize the return of an agreement in Copenhagen into the future.

This might pave the way for a new, Green Economy in the 21st century where natural or nature-based assets become part of mainstream economic and policy planning.

The TEEB climate issues update says that governments can already take steps to include ecosystem services in their national accounts in order to “measure what they manage”.

In support of this, it suggests that an upgrading of the United Nations’ 2003 handbook on Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting be carried out to include forest carbon.

TEEB findings indicate that investing in the Earth’s ecological infrastructure has the potential to offer an excellent rate of return. (ANI)

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Facedown burials in ancient times was a way to humiliate the dead

June 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, June 24 (ANI): A new research has suggested that burying the dead facedown in ancient times wasn’t unusual or accidental, but a widely used way to humiliate the dead.

According to a report in National Geographic News, the first global study on the facedown burials suggests that it was a custom used across societies to disrespect or humiliate the dead.

Lead study author Caroline Arcini of Sweden’s National Heritage Board detected a common thread in the burials she studied, “that society sanctioned this apparently negative treatment of the dead.”

The unnerving burials often appear to signify “behavior that is out of the norm-it is not accepted, what (the dead) have done,” she said.

Shaming the dead “is most probably a deep-rooted behavior in humankind,” she added.

Arcini searched existing literature to make the first ever catalog of facedown burials from around the world.

She found descriptions of more than 600 bodies from 215 grave sites, from Peru to South Korea.

Dating from 26,000 years ago all the way up to World War I, these so-called prone burials include men, women, and children, though the majority were men.

Facedown burials occurred in all sorts of graves, including single graves, double graves, and mass graves.

In locations with several prone burials, the dead were often buried in shallow graves toward the edge of the cemetery, most of them without coffins.

According to Arcini, the phenomenon has various possible explanations.

Some people had their hands and feet tied together, suggesting they had been criminals or prisoners of war.

Other burials indicate the practice was linked to social status, as in the case of 80 bodies found in a Mexican cemetery that dates to between 1150 and 850 B.C.

There, 6 men are sitting in their graves, while the other 74 are in a prone position, Arcini noted.

“It might be that the people (buried in a sitting position) are high priests, and the others are in a lower social position,” she said.

The archaeologist highlights religious and cultural conflict as another potential factor.

“The highest frequency of facedown burials in Sweden, for instance, dates to the period of the Viking age when Christianity arrived in the region,” Arcini said.

“Pagan Vikings may not have accepted those who converted to Christianity and may have buried the bodies in a way that reflected their dislike,” she explained.

“Rule-breaking nuns and convicted witches were also buried in prone positions,” she added. (ANI)

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Circus life takes a toll on wild animals’ health

May 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, May 21 (ANI): Elephants, lions and tigers might be considered the stars of a circus show, but these wild animals are least suited to life in captivity, cited the first global study of animal welfare in circuses.

The survey concluded that wild animals, on average, spend just 1 to 9 per cent of their time training, and the rest confined to cages, wagons or enclosures typically covering a quarter the area recommended for zoos.

“It’s no one single factor. Whether it’s lack of space and exercise, or lack of social contact, all factors combined show it’s a poor quality of life compared with the wild,” New Scientist magazine quoted Stephen Harris of the University of Bristol, UK, and lead researcher of the study, as saying.

According to him, the worst affected animals are elephants, lions, tigers and bears who are often confined to cages where they pace up and down for hours at stretch.

“Even if they are in a larger, circus pen, there’s no enrichment such as logs to play with, in case they use them to break the fence and escape,” he said.

Even travelling takes a toll on the animals’ health, and their itineraries could also turn out to be gruelling.

The study even cited data showing that concentrations of the stress hormone cortisol in saliva from circus tigers remains abnormal up to 6 days after transport, and up to 12 days in tigers who’ve never travelled before.

The researchers analysed 153 European and North American circus trips, and found that troupes only stayed at each single location for an average of a week before moving on, with an average of almost 300 kilometres between locations.

The animals are often kept in conditions drastically different from their natural habitat even after reaching their destinations.

Elephants can be shackled for 12 to 23 hours per day when not performing, in areas from just 7 to 12 square metres and very often, they could only move as far as the chain would let them- just 1 to 2 metres.

The researchers also found evidence showing that circus elephants, lions, tigers, bears and even parrots adopt repetitive abnormal movements and pacing, called sterotypies.

Also, the animals suffer ill health both from confinement and from the tricks they learn to perform.

“There is no evidence to suggest that the natural needs of non-domesticated animals can be met through the living conditions and husbandry offered by circuses. Neither natural environment nor much natural behaviour can be recreated in circuses,” concluded the study. (ANI)

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Indians ready to pay more for environment friendly goods

December 16, 2008 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, (PTI) Indians don’t mind paying more for environment friendly goods, compared to the Chinese or the Japanese, even though they are not unduly worried that the environment is in a crisis. Thus, 88 per cent of Indian consumers are prepared to pay more for goods that are environment friendly against 82 per cent in China and 68 per cent in Japan, according to a study of consumers in India, China and Japan.

Findings are part of a 10-market global study by international communication firm Edelman. Unlike their peers in other countries, respondents in India believe there is too much fuss about the environment (79 per cent) and they do not believe the world is experiencing global warming (56 per cent).

Still, 92 per cent feel it is their duty to contribute to a better society and environment. The study sought to understand consumer attitudes and preferences on the emerging issue of social purpose.

Its findings show that despite the economic downturn, a strong majority think it is important to purchase products and brands they perceive to be socially responsible India (90 per cent), China (90 per cent) and Japan (64 per cent). “What we find particularly interesting in this study is that economic concerns are taking a distant place behind consumers’ demands that quality brands be produced by socially conscious companies,” says Alan VanderMolen, Edelman’s Asia-Pacific President.

“The current economic crisis has made little or no difference to the financial or voluntary support given to good causes by Indians. We found that 23 per cent of Indian respondents have actually paid more for a brand because it supports a good cause.

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Lancet: Dozens of nations inflated vaccine numbers

December 14, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Dozens of developing countries exaggerated figures on how many children were vaccinated against deadly diseases, which allowed them to get more money from UN-sponsored programs, a new study said on Friday.

Research in the medical journal, The Lancet, said only half as many children were vaccinated than was claimed by countries taking part in special programmes meant to reach kids in poor nations. The findings raise serious issues about vaccination programmes – and whether money earmarked for children is actually reaching their intended recipients.

“With the unprecedented billions given by the international community, there is no excuse for these poor coverage rates,” said Philip Stevens, of the International Policy Network, a London-based think-tank. “One has to wonder where the money has gone – hopefully not into Swiss bank accounts.”

American researchers analyzed records of children supposedly vaccinated by initiatives led by the United Nations and related groups like the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, or GAVI.

The scientists examined reports the countries gave to the United Nations on how many children were immunized. They then compared those figures to independent surveys on vaccination conducted by non-governmental groups and other outside researchers.

The report did not focus on the tens of millions of children immunized globally each year. Instead, the researchers studied programmes meant to increase the availability of vaccinations in poorer countries, vaccinations designed to reach kids who would not be covered otherwise.

From 1986 to 2006, the United Nations reported that 14 million children received immunizations in the programs. But the reports from the independent surveys put that number at just over 7 million.

“The magnitude of the gap is surprising,” said Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics at the University of Washington and the study’s lead author.

Murray and colleagues found that at least 32 of the 51 countries taking part in the UN-backed programs over-reported by at least 50 per cent how many children were protected against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough.

Experts suggest that inflating the numbers is part of a larger problem in attracting limited resources.

“That’s how you get money,” said Ken Hill, a public health professor at Harvard University who was not linked to the study. “You exaggerate the number of people who die or who you save to get visibility. Somehow, numbers always end up bigger than they would be otherwise.”

The global alliance pays developing countries USD20 per extra vaccinated child – a payment that relies exclusively on reports from the countries.

Murray and colleagues estimated that the alliance should have paid countries USD 150 million. Instead, it paid them USD 290 million.

The report said the worst countries for over-reporting were Armenia, Somalia, Zimbabwe and Myanmar, none of which immunized any additional children at all.

Countries that reported vaccination numbers more than four times higher than surveys showed included Tajikistan, Pakistan, Togo, Lesotho, Liberia and Zambia.

Those overestimating immunizations by more than two times were Niger, Ivory Coast, Congo, Central African Republic, Guinea, Indonesia, Gambia, North Korea, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Nations that claimed at least 50 per cent more vaccinations than were actually done included Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Ghana, Azerbaijan, Cameroon and Nepal.

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