The Female Point of View

Bambi Holzer is a senior vice president of investments and a retirement plan consultant with PaineWebber in Century City. In her job, Holzer oversees hundreds of pension and profit-sharing plans, advising on plan design, administration and trustee services, investment management and employee communications. She also works with individuals and families on tax planning, estate planning, retirement planning and investment management issues.

Before joining PaineWebber, Holzer was director of retirement services for Oppenheimer & Co. and Bear Stearns. Holzer, a native of Chicago and graduate of Northwestern University, is a member of PaineWebber’s Chairman’s Council and was Century City Woman of the Year in 1996.

Here she offers her perspective on women and investing.

Times: Is gender relevant in developing investment plans?

Holzer: By itself, I believe gender has no relevance--except for how it affects a person’s financial situation. Women tend to have less money set aside in retirement plans because they generally earn less than men and have more sporadic careers. Yet women need even more money to carry them through retirement because they tend to live longer than men.

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Times: Is there still a gender gap in terms of savings?

Holzer: According to a PaineWebber/Gallup study, women investors save 15% of their incomes, compared with 13.6% for men. But only 59% of the women said their current savings rate is enough to meet their goals, compared with 64% of men.

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Times: Has the gender gap narrowed in investing?

Holzer: I don’t think there is as much of a gap, but there’s a big gap in perceptions. Sixty-two percent of married women say they make joint investment decisions with their husbands, while just 30% of married men describe themselves as joint decision makers. This difference is striking, because women are the major household decision makers in purchases of cars, furniture and homes.

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Times: At some point in their lives, nine out of 10 women are responsible for making their own investment decisions. Are they prepared?

Holzer: The younger generation, women 20 to 50 years, tends to step up to the plate and take more responsibility for their investment decisions. They are also more willing to accept some risk in the hope of earning higher returns. Older women, 50 to 90, want certainty in their investments. They have a hard time understanding that some principal fluctuation is necessary in order to combat the other kind of risk: purchasing power risk caused by inflation.

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Times: Are cultural factors still at work?

Holzer: In the traditional household, the husband took responsibility for the finances, while the wife was left not knowing how to read a brokerage statement. Investing wasn’t an option; women were supposed to be kept in the dark. Because they know they lack investment knowledge and don’t have confidence in their decisions, these women tend to be more trusting of third-party advisors.

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Times: Does this make them easy targets?

Holzer: Widows and divorcees without any financial experience can fall prey to professionals who say, “Don’t you worry your pretty little head.” They become very vulnerable to their late or ex-husbands’ advisors or commonly turn to their own friends, who are often in the same boat.

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Times: What should female investors be wary of?

Holzer: To use a medical analogy, 20 years ago you took your doctor’s recommended treatments. Today you get a second opinion and you ask questions. For years, women took it for granted that professionals were going to do the right thing. They’re not satisfied with that anymore. Women want to take charge of their finances.

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Times: What’s the best way to choose a financial advisor?

Holzer: The most important thing is to surround yourself with people you trust. You need to get references for CPAs, financial planners and attorneys. You need to have meetings with them at several peak periods. If you can’t get an appointment with your CPA in March, for example, that would be a red flag that you’re not going to get priority treatment. Age is another factor. You want someone who will be around for a while, but not someone so new that you’re the first client.

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Times: Is there a difference in how men and women approach investing?

Holzer: There is a macho locker-room mentality that men are just supposed to know about finance in general from birth. For some reason, it’s more embarrassing for men to ask financial advisors to explain things. Female clients who want to become empowered have a much easier time asking questions.

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Times: Should married women have independent investment plans?

Holzer: I hope married women don’t get the idea that they should do an end run around their husbands. Married women should not be encouraged to act as if they were single when it comes to financial planning. Marriage forms an economic unit, especially in California, where community property laws prevail.

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The Times’ Investment Strategies Conference features panel discussions on women’s investment issues at 10:45 a.m. Saturday and 2:45 p.m. Sunday.