This week, a gathering of over 40 women gathered with a sense of expectation and also some anxiety for our event ‘Wealth is Precious – What Every Woman Needs to Know”.

The brainchild of Emma Parkes, Relationship Manager at Church House, a key objective of the event was to overcome some of the reasons why women are less involved with their finances than their husbands or partners, including a lack of confidence to seek advice. “Survey after survey highlights that men are more frequent investors and that women believe a lack of knowledge prevents them from optimising their wealth”, said Emma.

The morning was full of thought-provoking and, at times, humorous insight across a broad spectrum of wealth issues from the obvious investment opportunities to awareness of the legal mechanisms to protect accumulated wealth. It concluded with an illuminating talk on a subject matter ideally suited to the event – jewellery.

Merryn Somerset-Webb, Editior-in-Chief at MoneyWeek and renowned industry commentator, explained that growing wealth is ultimately about helping create the improved lifestyle we desire. She also highlighted that a significant risk to this is limiting the management of money to cash deposits, which, due to the combination of low interest rates and inflation, actually reduce the real value of our capital. A concept she labelled ‘Reckless Caution’.

Jamie Kennaugh, partner in the Family Law Team at Charles Russell Speechlys, explained how skilful and sensitive legal advice can help avoid many of the emotional and financial challenges that occur when personal circumstances change. Zoe Robinson of Robinson Pelham Jewellery then encouraged those in room to look again at their treasured jewellery pieces. Her message was wear the pieces you love with pride and think about recycling those you do not use into pieces that can be both beautiful and practical for a modern lifestyle.

Emma wrapped up the morning with a perfect summary of the key learning points from the event, once again re-iterating the dangers of leaving money in cash savings and stressing the accessibility of modern investment solutions, in terms of low initial investment limits.

The day is best summed up in the words of one of the attendees – “The speakers were excellent - interesting, amusing and very relevant to the modern day.  I am now inspired to play a more active role!”