Maria Elena Lagomasino Participates in FIBA Wealth Management Forum in Miami, Florida
September 22, 2014
In preparation for the FIBA Wealth Management Forum, held in Miami, Florida, FIBA interviewed WE CEO Maria Elena Lagomasino on the differences between men and women in how approach wealth management. From her decades of experience, Maria Elena (MEL) provides critical insights on the differences of working with men and women, and how understanding these differences can make a difference in the success of the overall wealth strategy.
“When asked if she deals with women wealth owners differently than their male counterparts, Maria Elena Lagomasino responds with conviction that indeed she does. Lagomasino, Managing Partner & CEO of WE Family Offices, will be sharing her insights about gender differences in wealth management as part of the interactive panel discussion “Women and Wealth Management- The Conversation Continues…” during the 2014 FIBA Wealth Management Forum, taking place September 15-16 at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel in Miami.
According to Lagomasino, who has been working with financially successful families for almost four decades, nearly every family unit she advises has at least one woman and sharp distinctions can be noticed between the way men and women approach financial topics.
Lagomasino recalls a recent family meeting where the man was focused on investment performance, access to investment products and other hard data. The woman on the other hand, was concerned with how to determine which investments would be right for the family, and how to best communicate that to others involved in the decisions. “The areas of focus are totally different,” says Lagomasino. “With men you communicate with a lot of charts and numbers, but if you put that chart in front of most women it’s a huge turnoff.”
More women than ever need wealth management; they comprise 50 percent of the overall population. “It is an inexorable, incremental slope upward,” says Maria Elena. “More women will inherit wealth, because we outlive men. More women are creating wealth themselves. So increasingly, more women are becoming our central clients.” Still, they represent only about 13 to 25 percent of the financial services industry.”
