DRAFT ONLY - Barbara Stewart



News Release

National Survey Results Defy Stereotypes Surrounding Canadian Women and Finance

Respondents across Canada challenge old attitudes, revealing new insights into how women manage and approach money

TORONTO, December 2, 2010—Results from the new national survey, Financial Lives of Girls and Women, shine a light on the growing disconnect between prevailing attitudes around women and finance—and reality. A recent Angus Reid Public Opinion survey commissioned by Barbara Stewart, CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst), challenges dominant assumptions and stereotypes around Canadian women's financial behaviours, providing fascinating insight into women's true feelings and activities surrounding money, investing, financial knowledge and financial planning.

"Historically, we were led to believe that women and finance didn’t mix; that women left the financial planning to the men in their lives and were largely ignored or under-serviced by financial firms and planners," says Barbara Stewart, CFA – Portfolio Manager at Cumberland Private Wealth Management Inc. "These attitudes, many of which still prevail today, contradicted my day-to-day dealings with women, providing me with the impetus to develop a study that would capture and generate deeper understandings around women's financial behaviour, while simultaneously challenging no-longer relevant stereotypes."

"As financial educators, it’s critical that we understand consumer behaviour in order to provide information, programs and tools that will help consumers make better financial and investment decisions," says Tom Hamza, President, Investor Education Fund. "These survey results are important, because they challenge prevailing ideas about Canadian women and their financial behaviours, which in turn, allow us to better tailor our approach to financial literacy."

The results of Financial Lives of Girls and Women reveal that despite being publicly modest about their financial management capabilities, women are privately confident in their own financial planning and investment abilities. Yet women unfortunately persist in using self-deprecating language that devalues their financial management capabilities, perpetuating inaccurate notions of their financial aptitude.

Key survey findings include:

Women control the purse strings when it comes to making decisions about household spending

Dispelling antiquated notions of women as financially powerless, a staggering 89% of respondents revealed that final decisions ultimately rest with them. In fact, the survey reveals that it is women who typically hold the balance of power when it comes to budgeting and day-to-day banking, with 52% of women indicating that they are responsible versus only 8% who indicate that their partner handles the duties. Women also claim to be in control of major purchasing decisions, such as when to buy a home, a car, or undertake home renovations.

Women have the financial “last word” and only consult their partner about half the time before making fiscal decisions

Interestingly, although the majority of female survey respondents (89%) said that financial decisions should often or always be made with their spouse or partner, only 51% of women admit to consulting their significant other before making a financial decision. Clearly, the desire for financial independence remains paramount, with only 34% of married or common-law women having completely joint finances, and 66% admitting to having at least one separate account and/or credit card.

Women have many financial goals, but three-quarters lack a financial plan to get there

When it comes to what matters most, almost all women universally agreed that financial security (99%) and freedom (95%) are among the most important reasons to value money. Other reasons include supporting children (74%), paying for big ticket items, (74%), paying for regular vacations (73%), providing children with an inheritance (60%), providing gifts of money to children (56%) and supporting charitable causes (50%). Yet despite having their financial goals in place, almost three-quarters (71%) of women admit to not yet having a written financial plan, even though three-quarters of women (76%) agree that having one is important. Anecdotal responses reveal that creating a detailed financial plan carries the same stigma as a last will and testament, we all know we should write one, but most put off the task for as long as possible.

Women take charge of their family’s financial education

It’s unanimous. Across the country, women are consistently focused on providing financial education to their children. Almost all women (97%) believe it is very important to teach today’s youth about financial matters, and up to 83% have taken actual steps to educate their children or step-children around finance. Unwilling to rely solely on others when it comes to their children’s financial literacy, women are striving hard to equip today’s youth with the tools they will need to make successful fiscal decisions. In fact, 65% of women surveyed are the ones taking charge of their family’s financial education, communicating openly with their children about financial matters and consistently encouraging their children to save money (83%), get summer jobs (71%), and set up their own bank accounts (71%).

Women prefer to obtain their financial information from the newspaper vs. from TV or online

Almost half of women respondents (47%) read financial related articles online or in the newspaper, with women purporting to obtain their information from online or print newspapers over other mediums such as television (33%), financial-related blogs (21%) and financial-related Podcasts (14%). Deeper analysis sheds light on this preference, explaining that most women prefer their financial information be housed within a more human-interest context, often seeking out articles that touch on money, relationships and family economics. Hungry for financial information with relevance, women prefer real-life examples to abstract economic theory, continuing to favour articles containing financial topics they deem to be relevant to their decision making needs.

Women cite lack of interest as a reason for not consuming financial news

Seventy-five per cent of women who do not consume this information cite "lack of interest" as a reason for not consuming financial news even once a quarter. But that doesn’t make them feel ill-informed. On the contrary, a clear majority (63%) of women feel very or moderately confident in their financial know how. Interestingly, financial certainty seems to increase as women get older. Women over the age of 55 (71%) show higher levels of confidence in money matters than women aged 35-54 (62%). Confidence aside, 85% of women agree that they should be educating themselves more on financial matters.

Women know exactly who to turn to when in need of financial advice

When it comes to financial literacy, survey interviews reveal that women prefer to focus their learning on the core issues of money management, while outsourcing the fine details to a trusted advisor, who in turn provides synthesized information that has been tailored to their personal situation. Despite being portrayed as financially adrift, women know exactly whom to turn to when navigating financial waters, illustrating that for many women, managing their money, means managing their relationship with their financial advisors—enabling them to match their level of involvement to their needs and interest levels.

Women are pleased with the financial advice and service they receive

In contrast to the conventional notion of women being ignored or talked down to by the financial community, the majority of survey respondents claimed to be pleased with the advice and service they receive from their financial advisors. In fact, over two-thirds of women (68%) rank the service and advice they receive from the banking and investment industry as ‘good’ or ‘better than good’ and nearly three quarters of women (73%) have no plans to change their investment advisor. Results reveal that women rely on their natural communication skills to enhance, drive and manage relationships with their advisors, leveraging financial advice judiciously by focusing the discussions on big picture planning and long-term financial security. Only 6% of women surveyed said they are planning to change advisors.

"Survey results from the Financial Lives of Girls and Women illustrate that a clear majority of Canadian women are confident in financial and investment matters, and are more than competent in seeking out relevant advice and information needed for informed financial planning and investment decisions," says Ms. Stewart. "Contrary to common misperceptions, and in contrast to their self deprecating language around their financial aptitude, women are largely in charge of their financial relationships and activities, successfully managing their advisors, long-term financial goals, and their family’s financial well-being."

Launch event at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto TONIGHT

Select survey results from Financial Lives of Girls and Women will be presented at a launch event for media and industry professionals tonight at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto. The insightful event will be moderated by Barbara Stewart and will feature a panel of industry experts including Susan Silma (Director, CRR, Ontario Securities Commission), Tom Hamza (President, Investor Education Fund), and Laurie Campbell (Executive Director, Credit Canada). The actual report, including survey results, is available online at barbarastewart.ca. For more information, or to RSVP, please contact Gwen McGuire at Broad Reach Communications via 416-948-6500 or gmcguire@.

About the Financial Lives of Girls and Women survey

From August 3 to August 9, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among a sample of 1,006 women who are Angus Reid Forum panel members. Results have been statistically weighted according to the most current region, age, and education Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire female adult population of Canada. The margin of error is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20.

Barbara Stewart additionally conducted 25 one-on-one interviews and six focus groups totaling more than 70 attendees with a variety of Canadian women in order to provide anecdotal input to support the quantitative elements of Financial Lives of Girls and Women.

About Barbara Stewart

Barbara Stewart is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) specializing in Portfolio Management. She has extensive experience in global capital markets and has been advising high-net-worth individuals and families for nearly 15 years. Barbara is a shareholder of Cumberland Partners Limited – the parent company of Cumberland (). Prior to her work with private clients, she advised institutional clients on the foreign currency trading desk for BMO Nesbitt Burns. In addition, Barbara is a past instructor for the CFA program sponsored by the Toronto CFA Society, as well as the CFP Program sponsored by Sheridan Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning. Her portfolio reviews have appeared in the Toronto Star and other media. Barbara devotes time and energy to her position as a board member of not-for-profit organization Credit Canada. In addition, she creates educational events that give her the opportunity to lecture on a topic she is passionate about – financial literacy. All of these activities contribute to Barbara’s ability to deeply understand her clients’ unique qualities and circumstances. For further information on this survey, visit barbarastewart.ca.

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For further information, please contact:

Gwen McGuire

Broad Reach Communications

416-948-6500 or gmcguire@

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