השפעת המגדר על עמדות משקיעים פרטיים כלפי איכות הייעוץ הפיננסי בבנקים ובבתי השקעות

The field of financial advice is characterized by gender dichotomy. On the one hand, the number of women employed in banks, including in senior positions, is high, often exceeding half the total number of employees. On the other hand, the number of women employed as financial advisors or managers in investment houses is low, standing at most at about 30%. In the present study, we explore whether the advisor’s gender has an impact on the perceived quality of investments, with reference to the type of institution and level of risk (amount of money) involved. To examine the research questions, three studies were conducted describing the public’s attitude towards investment advisors. The first study consisted of preliminary qualitative interviews with eight financial advisors working in investments houses. Based on the interview results, two further studies were conducted using a quantitative method. The first quantitative study was based on an experiment conducted among 1,600 respondents. Participants were asked to read a script describing a financial counseling process. Based on the scenario, the respondents’ perceptions of the existing level of risk in the investment, the likelihood of investment gain, and respondents’ attitudes toward financial advice given by women were examined. Respondents were divided into eight experimental categories according to the gender of the advisor (male/female), the institution where the consultation took place (bank/investment house) and the level of investment risk (distribution of 100,000 to 500,000). The second quantitative study examined respondents’ attitudes towards the financial advisors’ gender using the adaptive conjoint analysis method. Among other features, respondents were asked to choose their preferences according to the advisor’s gender.The interview results show that female financial advisors do not feel that clients discriminate against them by reason of their gender. This finding is in line with the results of the first quantitative study. Contrary to the research hypotheses, the results of the first study show that the general public is not affected by the gender of the financial advisor, the consulting institution or the degree of risk. Attitudes toward the probability of earnings or the perceived risk level of an investment are found to be indifferent, given the advisor’s gender, the consulting institution (bank or investment house) or the level of risk. Nevertheless, gender bias is found to be connected to investor characteristics. Fewer gender biases are found among investors investing through investment houses, who express more positive attitudes toward the quality of advice provided by advisors. Findings from the conjoint analysis indicate that the advisor’s gender has a third impact on the importance of consumer decision-making regarding investments. An analysis of trait levels suggests that the female gender has a negative effect on the desire to invest in the same investment, and the negative position is significantly higher among male respondents. Altogether, the current study indicates that the financial advisor’s gender does have some effect on the perceived risk of the investment. Despite these optimistic findings, further action is required to completely eliminate gender bias in the future.