The Luxury Institute is predicting that in only two decades women will achieve the same or more success as men in terms of being in management positions, running businesses, earning money and overall net worth.

The Luxury Institute is predicting that in only two decades women will achieve the same or more success as men in terms of being in management positions, running businesses, earning money and overall net worth.

The New York-based firm ran a survey of women in households earning at least $150,000 about their economic situations, personal aspirations and family responsibilities. It also surveyed them on the companies and industries marketing to them.

Within the survey the firm found that 67 per cent of the women were employed or running their own businesses and 41 per cent were earning more than half of their family’s total income – a jump from 2008 when 27 per cent were the biggest breadwinners.

These advances come in the wake of a long period of time, beginning in 1985, during which women have been earning college degrees at higher rates than men.

Median salary in the sample group was $181,000, with around two-thirds of women earning over $150,000 and one-fifth with annual incomes of $300,000 or more.

Despite these clear advances in pay and wealth equality between the sexes, according to a study of Fortune 500 companies carried out by the University of North Carolina Business School over half of respondents said that developing women executives was “not on the agenda,” a study by Pershing said.

Pershing points to figures from the US Department of Labor illustrating a “significant pay gap” among men and women, with women advisors earning just 58 cents on the dollar compared to their male peers. This costs women an average of $1.25 million over the course of a 35-year career, it said.

Family matters

The Luxury Institute says that while the women surveyed showed considerable success in their careers, nearly all of them over the age of 35 said the most important aspect of life is family. And because of this, 34 per cent said their main long-term career goal is to retire and spend more time with their families.

This was also reflected in the major roles these women are playing in the home, where in 78 per cent of cases they are controlling the majority of spending. It turns out that women hold the purse strings when it comes to food, clothing, shoes and vacations.

"Luxury executives should know that given the trends we see now, we predict that the millennial women will achieve parity or surpass the achievements of their male counterparts in managerial, entrepreneurial, income and net worth levels in the next two decades," said Milton Pedraza, chief executive of the Luxury Institute.

"Shifting gender roles require brands in traditionally male dominated industries to connect with strong, successful women, but new marketing campaigns are not enough," he said.

He recommended having “brand ambassadors” who could work through channels such as one-to-one communications and social media to engage more female clients.

This could pose a problem for the wealth management industry if it doesn't do more to attract and retain female staff. The number of female advisors is dwindling from its current level of 30 per cent, according to the Pershing study.

Women are “woefully underrepresented across the industry,” even though they account for nearly two-thirds of the US workforce, it said. While it is not to say that women will necessarily want to work with female advisors, it stand to reason that they may not be impressed by an industry that is not socially reflective.