34% of Women Investors Say Advisors Are Condescending

A Nationwide Retirement Institute survey of investors and advisors found 34% of women investors felt their financial advisors were condescending when explaining recommendations or answering questions. The survey was conducted Jan. 15 to Feb. 6, 2026.

The poll, fielded by Harris Poll for Nationwide, included 2,012 investors, of whom 421 were women who worked with advisors, and 528 advisors, including 119 women advisors. In addition to the 34% who described condescending behavior, 95% of surveyed women said they were treated with the same respect as male clients.

Thirty-two percent of women said advisors assumed they knew less about finances than they did, and 29% said advisors sometimes “mansplained” concepts to them. Those responses reflect how some women describe advisor interactions even as most report equal respect.

On the advisor side, 91% of surveyed advisors said they were confident in their ability to meet the needs and expectations of women investors. However, only 37% reported that they understood women clients’ financial and retirement goals, and 25% said they had received training on the unique financial challenges women face.

Jillian Berry, senior director of the StrongHer Money program at RFG Advisory in Birmingham, Alabama, urged advisors to review how they engage with women clients and to reevaluate office environments to make them more welcoming and safe.

Suzanne Ricklin, senior vice president of Nationwide Retirement Solutions Distribution, said in a statement that well-intentioned explanations can come across as dismissive and that advisors should ask questions and listen to what matters most to women clients.

Survey materials cited research showing that women often seek referrals from other women and that poor or infrequent communication can lead clients to leave an advisor. The Nationwide Retirement Institute report, titled “Women Investors,” was conducted with the Harris Poll and includes the results released in 2026.