Top Three Percent Wealth Manager Proves Women of Wealth Demand Radically Different Investment Approaches

Photo Credit: Erin D. Eiras | InVestra

The wealth management industry stands at an inflection point. Female executives now control an estimated $10.9 trillion in investable assets across the United States, yet the advisory firms managing those fortunes remain overwhelmingly designed around male client preferences and risk profiles.

InVestra, a wealth management firm serving ultra-high-net-worth clients, has achieved placement among the very top tier of wealth managers nationwide by building its entire practice around a single insight that most of the industry continues to overlook. Women of substantial wealth approach investing with fundamentally different priorities than their male counterparts, and serving them effectively requires abandoning many assumptions that have governed financial advisory for generations.

The Gender Wealth Gap Nobody Discusses

Industry data reveals a paradox that has puzzled financial services executives for the better part of a decade. Women control a growing share of American wealth, with projections suggesting they will hold $30 trillion by 2030, according to McKinsey research. Yet satisfaction scores among female clients consistently lag behind those of male clients by 15 to 20 percentage points.

The explanation lies in fundamental misalignment between what wealth managers offer and what female clients actually seek. Traditional advisory models emphasize portfolio performance metrics and benchmark comparisons. Female clients of substantial means prioritize different outcomes entirely, focusing on how wealth enables specific life objectives rather than performance against abstract indices.

Erin D. Eiras, who leads InVestra’s client services, observes that most advisors miss the distinction entirely. “Female executives want to discuss how their wealth supports business succession planning, how it protects family members through life transitions, and how it creates philanthropic impact aligned with their values. Those conversations require completely different expertise.”

Specialization Against Industry Orthodoxy

Conventional wisdom in wealth management holds that firms should maintain broad client bases to diversify revenue and reduce concentration risk. InVestra has rejected the orthodoxy entirely, betting that deep specialization creates more durable competitive advantages.

The firm maintains a million-dollar account minimum, deliberately limiting its addressable market to focus resources on fewer relationships. The higher barrier allows InVestra to deploy intensive service models that would prove economically unsustainable with smaller account sizes.

InVestra employs specialists in business succession, a domain requiring understanding of corporate structure, tax implications, and family dynamics that few generalist advisors possess. The firm has achieved recognition among leading national providers of long-term care insurance, appealing to female executives concerned with protecting assets from healthcare costs.

Market Dynamics and Future Trajectory

Female wealth accumulation is accelerating faster than overall wealth growth. Women are founding businesses at twice the rate of men, according to recent census data. Female corporate executives now hold 30 percent of C-suite positions at Fortune 500 companies, up from 17 percent in 2015. Women live longer than men on average, often outliving spouses and inheriting combined marital assets.

The trends suggest that firms positioned to serve female clients effectively will capture disproportionate growth over the coming decade. Yet most large wealth management firms have made only superficial adjustments to their service models.

Eiras acknowledges that the firm’s strategy carries concentration risk but argues that the opportunity costs of diversification outweigh the benefits. “The market is large enough that we can grow substantially while remaining focused. Trying to be everything to everyone is how most advisors end up being nothing special to anyone.”

Wealth management continues evolving toward greater specialization. InVestra’s position among the highest-performing wealth managers suggests that focusing on female executives was a sound strategy alongside sound ethics.

Disclaimer: Written in partnership with APG.