More women are entering wealth management, but fewer are into advisory roles: study

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide for the high-net-worth investor and consumer. subscription To receive future issues, directly to your inbox.

More women are entering the wealth management industry, but they have yet to make inroads into client-facing advisory roles, according to a recent study by private wealth intelligence platform Fintrx.

While the data shows an improvement in the industry’s gender gap, the nuance is still noticeable. Income-producing roles are typically better-paying and more suitable for leadership roles, according to Fintrx Vice President of Data and Research Emily Goldman.

“The lack of representation here directly impacts female employees’ earnings,” Goldman said. “This lack of leadership and ownership opportunities will also impact their profits in the long term.”

Younger women are making inroads into wealth management overall, with women representing 37.6% of registered professionals between the ages of 20 and 30, according to Fintrx. For the age groups 30-40 and 40-50, the percentage of women is less than 27%.

This shift comes at a time when women’s wealth is expected to boom in the coming years. Cerulli Associates estimates that $105 trillion of wealth will pass to heirs through 2048, of which $54 trillion will go to spouses. Since women tend to live longer than men, they are likely to get the lion’s share.

However, while young women are entering the industry in greater numbers, growth is concentrated in management or operational roles, according to Goldman.

Women represent only 20.2% of productive advisors aged 20-30, an almost identical percentage for advisors aged 30-40 and 40-50. The share is only slightly higher than that of advisors aged 50-60 (18%) and over 60 (17.1%).

This gender gap is also reflected in executive positions, according to Fintrx. The company found that women make up 21.5% of executive roles at wealth management firms, and are more likely to hold COO or CFO positions than CEO or investment roles.

“This points to the need for companies to create better pathways to these revenue-generating roles and leadership,” Goldman said. “Because when you get into operations, compliance, legal — there’s not an easy separation between the book-owning roles and then the long-term strategic leadership roles.”

She noted that an increasing number of female consultants are establishing their own companies. In 2025, there were 39 new registered investment advisory firms founded by women, up from 30 in 2021.

“I think we’ll see more and more women going out on their own if they can’t advance as much or as quickly in wire companies or larger companies,” she said.