Do women receive worse financial advice?

• Main Authors: BHATTACHARYA, Utpal, KUMAR, Amit, VISARIA, Sujata, ZHAO, Jing
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2024
• Subjects: audit study; gender; financial advice; securities firm; financial planner; risk tolerance; confidence; geographic outlook; Finance; Finance and Financial Management; Gender and Sexuality
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7042; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/8041/viewcontent/The_Journal_of_Finance___2024___BHATTACHARYA___Do_Women_Receive_Worse_Financial_Advice.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

We arranged for trained undercover men and women to pose as potential clients and visit all 65 local financial advisory firms in Hong Kong. At financial planning firms, but not at securities firms, women were more likely than men to receive advice to buy only individual or only local securities. Female clients who signaled high confidence, high risk tolerance, or a domestic outlook were especially likely to receive this suboptimal advice. Our theoretical model explains these patterns as a result of statis-tical discrimination interacting with advisors’ incentives. Taste-based discrimination is unlikely to explain the results.