Women, Money, Power: Morgan Stanley's Sherry Paul

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bloomberg Businessweek

Episode: Women, Money, Power: Morgan Stanley's Sherry Paul
Date: May 13, 2026
Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec
Guests: Sherry Paul (Managing Director & Private Wealth Advisor, Morgan Stanley); Claire Obussin (Senior Editor, Bloomberg News)

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Overview

This episode’s "Women, Money and Power" segment features a candid discussion with Sherry Paul, who leads an all-female private wealth team at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management. The conversation explores how women are transforming wealth management, the impact of the great wealth transfer, and why women’s growing influence over assets could reshape the economy and politics. Claire Obussin, Bloomberg Senior Editor, joins the discussion to examine both generational money habits and the profound implications of women holding more economic power.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Rethinking Wealth Management for Women

(02:38 – 04:00)

• Sherry Paul emphasizes meeting clients "where they are," shifting from transactional, solution-driven approaches to more collaborative and relationship-oriented ones.
• The team works with "female leads," notably women navigating major life transitions such as divorce and widowhood.
• Women are typically looking for more than return on investment (ROI), focusing on return on impact, return on influence, and goals-driven financial planning.
• Wealth management is about "building the story of their family money tree," not just asset allocation.

Quote:
“...they’re looking to outperform in life. They’re looking for a different ROI: return on impact, return on influence, and return on investment.”
— Sherry Paul [03:21]

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2. Life Transitions: Divorce, Loss, and Agency

(04:07 – 05:50)

• Paul discusses her experience with ultra-high-net-worth divorce among Gen X women, noting that both divorce and death involve grief, loss, and a new money identity.
• Over 90% of women change their financial advisor after divorce or widowhood if they haven’t been meaningfully included in financial decisions before.
• The importance of agency and authority in a woman’s financial life is highlighted.

Quote:
“In loss, there’s always a measure of regret... so more than 90% of the time, women will change financial advisors... if they’ve not been included in some meaningful way in their predecessor financial relationship with that spouse.”
— Sherry Paul [04:37]

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3. Expectations from Clients: Relationship-Driven Advising

(05:50 – 07:21)

• Clients increasingly expect advisors to offer relationship-focused guidance, blending financial planning and elements of behavioral coaching.
• Financial planners need to manage not just market volatility, but the “volatility of human behavior.”
• Paul busts the myth that women aren’t exceptional at managing money or building portfolios.

Quote:
“Money doesn’t grow on trees, but money habits do.”
— Sherry Paul [06:13]

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4. Distinguishing Investing from Trading & Gambling

(07:21 – 08:14)

• Paul draws a sharp line between goals-based investing and the culture of trading/gambling.
• True investment is about measurable life outcomes, not speculative activity.

Quote:
“There’s a big difference between investing—goals-based investing—and trading and gambling. Because one, you can measure against an outcome that actually has influence and impact in your life.”
— Sherry Paul [07:27]

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5. Generational Shifts: Money Identity and Autonomy

(08:14 – 11:28)

• Millennials display more transparency and collaborative attitudes about money than previous generations, enabled by education and technology.
• Divorce rates among millennials are tied not just to relationships but to the "complex intersection of money, conversations and family trees."
• The evolution from “divide and conquer” marriage models to more autonomous financial arrangements (e.g., separate accounts, normalized prenups) is changing the wealth landscape.

Quote:
“We can merge hearts, but we don’t have to merge bank accounts... Prenups should be like a natural thing.”
— Sherry Paul [10:28]

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6. The Wealth Transfer & Macro Implications

(11:28 – 13:18)

• Paul argues that women controlling more wealth is “more disruptive than A.I.,” citing the $30 trillion wealth transfer and women making 70% of purchasing choices.
• Women’s financial clout will reshape not just the economy but politics—whoever owns the consumption economy “owns the politics, too.”
• The historic lack of capital-raising power has limited women’s political influence, but this is rapidly changing.

Quote:
“Women controlling more wealth can actually reshape the entire US economy... it’s more disruptive than AI.”
— Sherry Paul [11:41]

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7. Timeline for Impact: When Will Change Be Felt?

(13:06 – 14:49)

• Paul expects the impact to be manifest “within five years.”
• Discusses how women’s preference for collaborative, human-centered financial advice outpaces technology-driven self-direction.
• The “language of alienation” in finance (“don’t worry, I got it”) is obsolete.

Quote:
“The patronizing kind of cultural history of Wall Street has had a wake-up call on this... What I call the language of alienation, where someone says, ‘don’t worry, I got it,’ is over. It’s over. And that’s exciting.”
— Sherry Paul [14:31]

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Notable and Memorable Moments

• The "money tree" exchange:
  Host jokes about wanting a money tree. Sherry replies:
  “Let’s plant it together.”
  — [04:04]

• Story of hidden wealth:
  Paul shares how women often discover hidden family assets only after divorce, highlighting the importance of transparency and financial literacy.
  — [13:21]

• Reframing prenups and separate accounts as healthy, not unromantic:
  — [10:36]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:38 – Sherry Paul describes her approach to wealth management for women
• 04:21 – The link between women’s involvement and post-divorce/widow advisor turnover
• 05:57 – How client expectations are changing for advisors
• 07:21 – Difference between investing, trading, and gambling
• 08:26 – Generational differences in attitudes to money and career identity
• 11:41 – Women holding more economic power can reshape the US economy
• 13:18 – Timeline for when women’s financial impact will be felt
• 14:31 – The declining relevance of patronizing attitudes in finance

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Conclusion

In this engaging episode, Sherry Paul offers an insider’s look at how women’s rising influence in wealth management is changing everything from family financial dynamics to the broader U.S. economy and political landscape. The conversation reveals a decisive shift toward goals-based, relationship-driven financial planning and underscores the transformative power of women’s voices—and dollars—in shaping the future.

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For anyone interested in gender, finance, and the future of wealth, this episode is a must-listen for its insights, practical wisdom, and fresh perspective on the evolving culture of money.

Transcript

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Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio News.

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You're listening to Bloomberg businessweek with Carol

[Podcast Host or Announcer]

Massar and Tim Stanvik on Bloomberg Radio.

[Podcast Host]

It's time now for our weekly Women, Money and Power segment. We speak with some of the most influential women from across the business world about investing, the great wealth transfer and more. Joining us today, Sherry Paul. She's Managing Director and Private Wealth Advisor at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management. She leads an all female private wealth team. It specializes in life transitions and a third of her client base out actually women. With us too is Bloomberg News Senior Editor Claire Obussin. They'll join us here in the Bloomberg Interactive Brokers Studio. Welcome to both of you. Sherry, I want to start with you and just talk a little bit about how you think differently. Having a female team but also having a client base that is a third female.

[Sherry Paul]

Yeah, thank you.

[Podcast Host]

From traditional wealth, you know, quote unquote traditional wealth management.

[Sherry Paul]

Well I would say the biggest. Thank you for having me. I think the biggest lesson I've learned over time is that we need to meet clients where they are. And so in working with women, we're looking at more interdependent collaborative working relationships with these clients instead of transactional, solution driven mame trading. I can't imagine that much of the mame trading culture is women. And so what we have found in working with women and also what we refer to as female leads, so we work with a lot of suddenly single women for different reasons, is that they're looking to outperform in life. They're looking for a different roi, they're looking for return on impact, they're looking for return on influence, and they are looking for return on investment. And so with that, then naturally comes what our specialty is, which is financial planning, centric investing. I'm also a senior portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley. We build and construct custom portfolios for clients. And so we really want to lean into families that are also living in their money. They're also building the story of their family money tree. And that's very different than hey, should I overweight tech over healthcare? As an example. And so having that dialogue is something that they really appreciate.

[Podcast Host]

Where do I get one of these money trees that she mentioned?

[Bloomberg Audio Studios Announcer]

Right here.

[Sherry Paul]

Okay, no, you know, let's plant it together.

[Tim Stanvik]

Sherry, what's fascinating is it just sounds like a completely different strategy. How many women, be it that they lose a husband or for whatever reason, divorce or whatever, completely want a different money manager. They want to totally do an overhaul of their portfolio.

[Sherry Paul]

That is a great question. And honestly, in my experience, because the fastest rising part of our practice is actually ultra high net worth divorce.

[Tim Stanvik]

Yeah.

[Sherry Paul]

Over 50 Gen X women and above. Part of that I think just for myself, is due to longevity. And people are looking around going, really, I didn't do this until I'm 95, I don't know. But divorce and death carry the same weight of grief and loss and change. And stepping into, into a money identity that involves agency and authority requires a certain amount of knowledge and forgiveness. Okay. Regret. And in loss, there's always a measure of regret. And I know I'm getting a little philosophical here, but this is something that people bring to the table all the time. So more than 90% of the time, women will change financial advisors in that mom if they've not been included in some meaningful way in their predecessor financial relationship with that spouse, even if they've been with them for years. And that is something I think the industry is missing and I am in the business. Honestly, I feel like I save marriages every day. My team and I, we talk about all the time because we bring both spouses into the conversation. Because to your point, Tim, we're also, we're intertwining money money stories. When you get married, you're not just merging hearts, you're merging money habits. And often that doesn't reveal itself until something happens. Claire, come on in.

[Claire Obussin]

So how is this changing expectations from the clients in terms of what they want from their advisors?

[Sherry Paul]

Well, I think that the advisor of the future would really lean into relationship oriented financial advice and guidance. Okay. Something very different, I think I was

[Tim Stanvik]

thinking like therapist and financial planner at the same time.

[Sherry Paul]

Absolutely. Behavioral finance is a big deal. And I often say to clients that like, money doesn't grow on trees, but money habits do. And so for ultra high net worth families, we're building, there's the family money, but then we want to, you know, we want to build the family orchard and have that be healthy too. So I think that there's a different level of cadence and patience in that conversation. I think you have to genuinely care for the outcome of people and then have a rigorous investment portfolio process that's married to the cadence of the family. Because it's not just the market volatility or geopolitical volatility that we are managing. We're managing the volatility of human behavior in their money system. And that often is the thing that actually eviscerates performance is when people do things that they shouldn't do because they feel that way. I'd also like to myth bust a little bit if we're going to talk about this, about how exceptional women are at managing money and how exceptional they are at building portfolios and understanding risk and rates of return, which is different than trading or gambling. Very different, very goals based.

[Tim Stanvik]

Wait, say that again. Say that again. What you just said. The difference.

[Sherry Paul]

Well, there's a big difference between investing goals based investing and trading and gambling. Very different things. Because one, you can measure against an outcome that actually has influence and impact in your life. Oh, I was able to send my kid college. Right. That's very different. Versus, hey, we were early in on AI, which we were in our portfolios. We're exceptional portfolio managers too. As much as we hug our clients, we deliver returns. I mean, that's the baseline.

[Tim Stanvik]

Yeah.

[Sherry Paul]

And that matters on an equal basis. But that's different than the activity of trading. You know, I saw a very big culture shift when the online Trading came on just as a side note, especially from an identity standpoint, when men are retiring, as an example, men retire their identity retires for working. Right. I mean, and so do you think that will.

[Podcast Host]

You know, I think of my own experience as a millennial.

[Sherry Paul]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

And do you think that that identity, our identities are so tied to our jobs as our parents?

[Sherry Paul]

No, that's not my experience.

[Podcast Host]

And, like, that's gonna change with the next couple generations.

[Sherry Paul]

It does. You know, it's interesting because for millennials, first of all, this idea of collaborative cohabitation around money and savings. This is a highly educated group on an equal basis. We've got more young women, millennials in college and finance than we ever did for Gen X women. And there's a presumption that you're both the millennials are all entering the workforce together. There is that presumption now. So, no, I don't see that. I see that more openness and more transparency because of the tech, I think is a part of that. However, statistically, from a divorce standpoint, millennials that get married between the age of 24, I think, and 42 have like a 40% divorce rate now. Well, yeah. And I have to tell you, I don't know that that has anything to do with, like, not loving somebody. I really do believe that it's the complex intersection of money, conversations and then family trees that come to bear on that, especially when they start having kids. That was a long answer to your question.

[Claire Obussin]

I know, that was great.

[Sherry Paul]

Yeah.

[Tim Stanvik]

Can I ask you, how many people, when a woman comes to you and she's like, I had no idea what was going on. I was not involved. And I am curious if it is a certain age group or does it span older, younger?

[Sherry Paul]

Well, yeah, I'm glad you asked that question because, you know, Gen X women were the first women to really be like, we're going to college. There are more of us in college. There were more of us in the workplace. We've now been eclipsed by millennial women, which is amazing. That's also why the wealth demographic is changing in America. More of us are in the workplace. I would say Gen X and above, you know, or like, I had no idea. Because you have highly educated women that enter into what I call the divide and conquer marriage. And they're intellectually making that decision with, you know, a high earning partner, and they're collaborating on what that financial life can look like, but they're abdicating their ability to earn money and their involvement with it. Okay, different. There's a very big difference between knowing that you have it and having a voice in it or having authority in it or control without permission. Very different concepts. I think that millennials have an opportunity and are leading the way from a money relationship standpoint. I also see with millennials that we can merge hearts, but we don't have to merge bank accounts. And that's okay, too. That doesn't have to be the thing that says I love you, that I'm going to put you on my single name account, or if I inherit from my baby boomer parent, which is a separate asset unless you commingle it in marriage, it's typically divorce protected that it needs to become a part of us. It can be a part of we, but not necessarily like in this way. And I think that that's a healthy way. And prenups are like. It's like, you know, prenups should be like a natural thing. Yeah, it should. You know, it's just, hey, you know, I have rarely do people come into relationships, especially after the age of 40, in some money equal posture. I don't see it that often. So there's always this dialogue.

[Claire Obussin]

I want to zoom out a little bit more because one thing you said to me before this and that, I want you to talk a little bit about it. You said that women controlling more wealth can actually reshape the entire US Economy. Can you dive into that a little bit?

[Sherry Paul]

Yeah. I think it actually is more disruptive than A.I.

[Claire Obussin]

wow.

[Sherry Paul]

I think it's the big miss that we have this constituency of women. We are, you know, more than half the country. We've got, you know, $30 trillion worth of asset transfer, and we make 70% of the purchasing choices. So in my opinion, if we're in a 70% consumptive GDP in a capitalist democracy, whoever owns the economy really owns the politics too, if you really think about it. Okay. And so if you've got women now, the primary consumers, we're really directing what the nature of consumption is. That's a very powerful moment in capitalism. Now, the flip side to that is that it's a billion dollars to run for president. So what we are now going to step into, I believe the political side of it, the political side of it, it's $50 million to run for Senate. It's $10 million to run for a House seat. What we've always lacked in the past that we've tried to pull together is the money system to capital raise to run candidates. And so that's been a deficiency that's Something that we have, I think women will have a big force in and whether they're inheriting it or not. It's why we've had our most successful female candidates have come into the money systems that their husbands have built prior in the baby boomer. Right. So I think that that's something that's really exciting, very powerful.

[Tim Stanvik]

So this transition and impact by women because of the transfer of wealth and having more say in the consumption economy, like how does this play or what's the time frame where you start to really feel that impact?

[Sherry Paul]

Well, I think we start to feel it within five years.

[Claire Obussin]

Yeah.

[Sherry Paul]

You know, and I'll give you another example is that I get AI disruption. I understand it. And we've invested in these themes for now over five years in my, in our, my, my team's client portfolios. What you really have to think about is what kind of decision making is someone willing to abdicate to an AI chatbot over wanting to have that intimate conversation. They're a baby boomer. They're getting a divorce. They didn't know that they had money or that they didn't. I've had cases where women thought that they had, that the family didn't have any money. Like you couldn't get a kitchen renovated and then they get divorced and there's $20 million. Like they kind of like. I mean, it goes both ways. So I know, I mean, I could really tell you some stories. But it's interesting what people do around money and control, right? Money can, you can energize it for good. You can control people with it, you can denigrate them with it, you can celebrate them with it. It's all kinds of things you can do in a family tree. But I think that we see that within the next five years in a meaningful way. And women are not going to self direct on the Internet. They enjoy the partnership and that human collaboration. And they want to be a participant, not a recipient. Okay, so the patronizing kind of cultural history of Wall street has had a wake up call on this. Okay. What I call the language of alienation, where someone says, don't worry, I got it, is over. It's over. And that's exciting.

[Tim Stanvik]

This is over too. We are so sorry. This was fascinating, really interesting because I feel like we've talked about this a lot, but your approach and your thinking through all this is wild. Sherry, come back soon.

[Sherry Paul]

We'd love it.

[Tim Stanvik]

Sherry Paul, managing director and private wealth advisor at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management, and of course, our Claire O. Bousson. She is Bloomberg News Senior Editor. We so loved it.

[Sherry Paul]

Thank you both.

[Tim Stanvik]

Really appreciate it. Great Stu.

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[Sherry Paul]

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Really? I can get super specific with dealer

[Sherry Paul]

listings and see cars based on my budget. You can really have it delivered or pick it up. Mommy Look, Kid is walking up the slide. Really?

[Bloomberg Audio Studios Announcer]

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