The survey found that 95 per cent of wealthy women say they seek transparency and someone who will keep them informed.

"For wealthy female investors, openness, transparency and trustworthiness are the most important qualities in selecting a financial advisor. Across the affluent, millionaire and ultra high net worth wealth segments, women want to be comfortable that advisors are focusing on their specific, personal financial needs - not on product or profit,” said Catherine McBreen, managing director of Spectrem Group.

“In fact, a frank, straightforward approach is more important to wealthy women than investment track record, depth of products offered, referrals, and even fees," said McBreen.

Indeed, a statement by Spectrem Group noted that, in focus groups, wealthy women were wary of advisors who seemed sales-driven or less than fully open and transparent making such comments as “I feel like he is always trying to sell me the next new thing,” and "everyone is out for himself.”

Other insights from the report included the finding that wealthy women tend to shun energy investments as well as socially and environmentally responsible funds.

The Spectrem e-zine Wealthy Women Investors is based on a quantitative Spectrem Group study of 3,024 households with a net worth of $100,000 to $25 million, not including primary residence, conducted from September to November 2010, as well as on focus groups and one-on-one interviews conducted on an ongoing basis. The margin of error for the quantitative data is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points, the firm said.