The Macquarie Graduate School of Management has agreed to become part of the Association of Financial Advisers’ (AFA) Female Excellence in Advice Award.

Tower Australia had already agreed to become a sponsor of the award when it was announced at the AFA national conference last year.

The award will be officially launched in May, and AFA CEO Richard Klipin says the move is part of a plan to tackle women’s high levels of underinsurance in life cover.

“What we need is greater female participation in the financial advice sector generally, and in particular, higher rates of participation at a leadership level,” he said. 

“The award seeks to actively encourage more women into the industry so they are better represented within the ranks of financial advisers and better able to help women secure their financial future.”  

Tower CEO Retail Life Brett Clark says his company’s research shows women are significantly underinsured.

“Our own statistics show us that although women make up 45% of the Australian workforce, only 12% of Tower income protection claims come from women,” he said.

“These statistics have significant social and fiscal implications for us all.”