Women now make up 47% of all cash millionaires in the UK
There are 59,000 men worth over £1m compared to 53,000 women HMRC data shows, says Salisbury House Wealth, the leading financial advisor.
However, Salisbury House Wealth highlights that the value of assets owned by male millionaires in the UK is £222bn, which is £93bn more than the £128bn owned by women millionaires.
The gender wealth gap is even more pronounced amongst the very richest – there are 7,000 men in the UK in the UK worth over £5m compared to 4,000 women. The total value of those men’s assets is £122bn compared to £46bn owned by women with more than £5m.
The figures are for “liquid wealth” which is made up of cash, bank or building society accounts and shares but excludes property assets.
Salisbury House Wealth says that while the difference in wealth levels between men and women amongst the very richest remains stark there are positive signs that the gender wealth gap is closing amongst the mass affluent.
Tim Holmes, managing director of Salisbury House Wealth, said:
“Some High Net Worth women are poorly served in terms of financial advice.
“There is an outdated stereotype in some parts of the financial services industry that women are more risk averse than men which leads to women being put in extremely low yielding investments. This can lead to wealth destruction as inflation eats at their returns.
“The wealth accrued by UK millionaires comes from a huge variety of sources – however nearly all of them need good quality financial advice that matches their portfolio to their risk appetite.
“Individual attitudes to investment risk are just as diverse amongst women as men – every wealth manger needs to work hard to understand what each of their clients wants.
“One of the most significant risks to investment performance in the current zero-rate environment is of the value of savings being eroded by inflation.
“If old-fashioned advisers push women towards overly risk-averse portfolios that underperform there is a risk that the ‘gender investment gap’ will increase.”
