You do have to feel for some academics. It seems they need to get out a little bit more rather than sit in their ivory towers dreaming stuff up.

The latest piece of "research" says that women don't become financial advisers as it is a male-dominated industry and has a boozy culture. I've been around financial advice since the 1990s and spend a heck of a lot of my time out at industry events.

Sure there is often alcohol but to think that these events are full of beer-swilling blokes is far from the truth or reality. They are pretty ordinary kiwi social events.

As financial advice has matured and moved more towards a profession, it has become far more responsible around its social functions. It certainly seems a far safer place for women than other professions like law. You don't have to cast your mind too far back to recall allegations of a boozy culture and sexual misconduct at Russell McVeagh. They ended up calling public service troubleshooter Dame Margaret Bazley to investigate the claims.

My observation is that an increasing number of women are joining the financial advice profession, particularly in the insurance and mortgage specialities (which some would argue have a "more social" culture than investments).

I think women are well suited to financial advice, especially with the way it is evolving. Women are very good around networking and there are many women-based groups in the industry including the likes of Women In Super.

The "researchers" claim there is a dominant masculine management culture. Let's think about this for a moment. Three of the big four Australian-owned banks have women in chief executive roles.

Women certainly have a good number of leadership roles in life insurance (think Cigna, Partners Life, Fidelity Life). Financial Advice New Zealand has women in the chair and chief executive roles. 

There are places though where there are few women in leadership roles. One of those is KiwiSaver. We copped a far bit of flak last year when the ASSET Magazine Round Table was an all-male event. The reality being there is a lack of gender diversity in leadership roles in this area; as well as a lack of Māori and Pacifika people. Considering the make up of KiwiSaver membership this is an issue for the industry.