The ‘Future of Wealth is Female’ as $3.3 trillion shift on way

Women are forecast to control 65% of Australia’s wealth by 2035 and financial services firms who are not talking to women are leaving money on the table, according to Natalie Irvine, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at non-bank lender, RedZed, who was speaking at the PFA 2025 Conference on the Gold Coast.

Ms Irvine has a background in banking and was named ‘Global Female Private Banker of the Year’ in 2023 & 2024. 

She says over $3.3 trillion is forecast to shift to women through inheritance, divorce and business succession by 2035, yet 80% of women surveyed say the finance industry doesn’t understand them. 

There is a huge opportunity for financial services providers, including fund managers, to improve their engagement with women, Ms Irvine said. “Around 80 per cent of the household financial decisions are made by women, but we’re still being sold to like it’s 1992. If you look at the number of finance apps targeted at women, there are very few. 

“If you’re not talking to women you’re leaving money on the table. This is a big opportunity to be an early adopter. Women are loyal when they find someone they trust. 

“They don’t move around, they don’t swap. They love trusted advisors who understand their needs.”

She said financial services companies need to challenge themselves to ask how well they are really engaging with women. “Have a think about some of your best performing clients, and ask when is the last time you engaged with their wife or their daughter? Because they are going to be making decisions.

“We have a significant amount of money that is going to transfer through property investments, superannuation and businesses from one generation or partner to the next. 

“It’s happening through inheritance, divorce is a really big one, and through business succession and life expectancy – because the women in this room still outlive the men.” 

Women may show loyalty to financial services providers they trust, but are not necessarily loyal to their partners’ financial services network – 70% of women change advisors after their partner dies or when they get divorced, according to Ms Irvine. “How are we connecting with this cohort – are we communicating with them the way they want to be communicated, or as we want to communicate with them?

“More women trust Google than their financial advisor. Over one million people are getting financial advice from TikTok.”

Ms Irvine said there is opportunity for those who can connect and communicate on a human level. “Sometimes we can use fantastically big words. We can be really interesting with our graphs. But actually, we’re all really human, so how do you relate that into a story that’s relevant to the person that you’re talking to? 

“How do you make your information relevant to the person in front of you?”

Ms Irvine said financial services providers need to start designing financial education, debt strategies and wealth tools with women in the room. “Women are very ‘time poor’ so what are we doing to make sure that we can try and provide educational tools that help get them up to speed? 

“As a minimum we need to train our frontline staff to treat the women as decision makers. Train our staff to use the right language as well. 

“Aim to build trust and legacy, not just transactions.”

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