For years, top brokerages have been eyeing ways to woo high net worth women.

Citigroup's Women & Co. was launched way back in 2000 and appears to be going strong, though it remains unclear just how much in assets it has garnered. There are some new marketing approaches afoot these days, as banks and brokerages aim to do even more.

Consider the "Women Unscripted" event, sponsored by Wells Fargo, which aims to attract more female executives as clients. The pitch seems to be less focused on the fact that the targets are women and more on the fact that they are high-powered executives with lots of assets. Bloomberg BusinessWeek quotes the views of one executive, who suggests that banks are now targeting women through events that bring ‘like-minded' women together rather than overtly selling products. The thought is that women don't react well to ‘financial services wrapped in pink," an approach that some firms have taken in the past.

There would appear to be lots of opportunity here, as the financial clout of women continues to rise. Lots of women would agree that the industry could do a better job of meeting their needs. They bring different approaches to the market in some ways. While the high-earners are being wooed, however, less well-to-do women may still face some subtle bias issues. Some women customers complain of condescending treatment at the branch office level.

For more:
- here's the Bloomberg BusinessWeek article

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