What’s in a name? Nine out of ten choose a male name for financial advisers

Three people in a meeting room, one of them is standing at a whiteboard
  • Meanwhile, less than half say they assume most financial advisers are men
  • And more women (44%) than men (40%) assume this
  • People with advisers assume this most (51%) but their choice of name reflects market reality most closely

New research from Aviva1 has revealed that most consumers automatically assume most financial advisers are men – but are in denial about it!

Advised customers were asked to reveal their adviser’s first name, which revealed that 19% have a female adviser (names which could be either male or female, such as Alex or Chris, were excluded). This is broadly in line with recent market stats from the FCA, saying 16% of advisers are female.

However, when non-advised consumers were asked what they thought a financial adviser is likely to be called, 94% of men, and 92% of women gave a male name.  When asked whether they assumed most advisers are men, however, less than half this number (40%) agreed that they do, with 21% saying this isn’t the case.

In addition, more women than men assume most financial advisers are men (44% vs 40%), although more women than men also disagreed that they assume this (23% vs 19%).

Sam Mirehouse, MD Aviva Financial Advice, comments:  “Although this is a light-hearted take on people’s perceptions of advisers and the advice market, the results do show us that there’s still an unconscious bias at work when thinking about the ‘typical’ adviser. There’s a big difference between 40% of people saying they do assume most advisers are men, and 94% giving a male name, when asked what they think this might be.

“It’s probably true that Financial Advice is not the only profession that suffers from stereotypical perceptions, but it’s a reminder that there’s still a lot that we in this profession can do to increase diversity overall and not just in gender,  making it accessible for more people. We’ve consciously striven for a gender split in Aviva Financial Advice which is more even than the market, and currently 45% of our advisers are women. Maintaining the balance will remain an area of focus for us.”

So what are advisers really called?

Analysis of Aviva’s data2 shows the Top 10 names, in order, are:

David, Paul, James, Mark, Andrew, John, Richard, Michael, Matthew, Simon

-ends-

Sources

1 Research carried out by Censuswide on behalf of Aviva 9th – 13th February 2023. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles.

2 Aviva internal data based on 52,000 contacts with ‘adviser type’ roles, November 2022

Enquiries

Catherine Comben

UK Insurance Media Relations

Notes to editors:

  • We are the UK's leading diversified insurer and we operate in the UK, Ireland and Canada. We also have international investments in India and China.
  • We help our 19.2 million (as at 31 December 2023) customers make the most out of life, plan for the future, and have the confidence that if things go wrong we’ll be there to put it right.
  • We have been taking care of people for more than 325 years, in line with our purpose of being ‘with you today, for a better tomorrow’. In 2023, we paid £25.6 billion in claims and benefits to our customers. 
  • In 2021, we announced our ambition to become Net Zero by 2040, the first major insurance company in the world to do so. We are aiming to have Net Zero carbon emissions from Aviva’s operations and supply chain by 2030. While we are working towards our sustainability ambitions, we recognise that while we have control over Aviva’s operations and influence on our supply chain, when it comes to decarbonising the economy in which we operate and invest, Aviva is one part of a far larger global ecosystem. There are also limits to our ability to influence other organisations and governments. Nevertheless, we remain focused on the task and are committed to playing our part in the collective effort to enable the global transition. Find out more about our climate goals at www.aviva.com/climate-goals and our sustainability ambition and action at www.aviva.com/sustainability
  • Aviva is a Living Wage, Living Pension and Living Hours employer and provides market-leading benefits for our people, including flexible working, paid carers leave and equal parental leave. Find out more at https://www.aviva.com/about-us/our-people/
  • As at 31 December 2023, total Group assets under management at Aviva Group were £376 billion and our estimated Solvency II shareholder capital surplus was £8.8 billion. Our shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and we are a member of the FTSE 100 index.
  • For more details on what we do, our business and how we help our customers, visit www.aviva.com/about-us
  • The Aviva newsroom at www.aviva.com/newsroom includes links to our spokespeople images, podcasts, research reports and our news release archive. Sign up to get the latest news from Aviva by email.
  • You can follow us on:
  • For the latest corporate films from around our business, subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/aviva

      More from our Newsroom