The UK government has released data showing that women are closing the wealth gap and pushing ahead in an important demographic.

Women aged 18 to 44 held more wealth than their male peers for the first time since official data began to capture such facts, according to numbers from the UK's Office for National Statistics. The ONS issues such figures once every two years. It releases numbers tracking wealth, breaking down the national profile by age, gender and region.

During 2014-2016, women had an average personal wealth of £175,200 ($229,607) whereas their male counterparts held £152,000. For all other age groups, women trailed men, but the 18 to 44 demographic is an important one for the wealth industry as career-earning potential and financial decision-making are at the forefront as is a growing argument for tailoring products with female investors specifically in mind.  
Another shift is in the retirement age group where wealth is declining for men and increasing for women. From 2014 to 2016 the highest average estate size among females was £303,900 for those aged 65 and over, up to 2.5 per cent from the previous period (2011 to 2013). In the same age group and period for men, it dropped 11.6 percent to £376,500. 

It is worth noting how the UK measures national wealth under ONS guidelines. The “identified wealth” used by the agency is wealth passed on death each year requiring a grant of representation. Also the figures only represent 27 percent of the UK adult population - around 14.1 million people - but it is still a sizable sample for clues to where wealth is shifting between gender and age groups and between regions.

In the overall UK picture, women hold just over half the nation’s wealth (51.4 per cent). No doubt some of this accounts for fact that women outnumber men in the general population, particularly in the older age group, as they tend to have a longer life expectancy.

UK wealth manager Quilter said the trend among younger women is significant but may be hard to sustain.

“It's encouraging to see the gender wealth gap is closing but a lot of work remains, and it remains unclear whether growth in wealth when women are younger will be sustained through their later life as they are more likely to take a career break or work part-time so they can look after their family,” said Quilter’s financial planning and tax specialist Rachael Griffin. Such gaps can have a substantial impact on savings and highlights the need to tailor investment advice specifically for women in this generation.

The wealth management sector and wider financial industry has faced greater calls to improve how female clients are treated. As more women own wealth - and they typically outlive their male spouses - their importance as a client base has sometimes been overlooked by wealth managers in the past.