[The Wrap] Financial advice: mainly male drinkers ... really?

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.