VouchedFor, the review site for financial and mortgage advisers, has introduced a new feature which allows users to filter their search according to advisers’ gender.

The release was timed to coincide with International Women’s Day, as the firm hopes to draw attention to the under-representation of women in the profession. Currently, women comprise only 16% of financial advisers.

The firm says many clients (particularly women) feel more comfortable working with female advisers.

Hattie Spurrell, director of Adviser Success, said: “Our data shows many instances of male advisers achieving brilliant client experience scores from female clients.

“However, on average, female clients tend to build stronger relationships with female advisers than male advisers. They speak more often, are more comfortable contacting their adviser outside of normal scheduled meetings, and are more comfortable sharing personal challenges.”

The result is that the Net Promoter Score (NPS) from female clients of female advisers is higher (94%) than from male clients of female advisers (92%).

Spurrell added: “We’re proud that – at 26% – the proportion of women advisers using VouchedFor over-indexes the industry. We want to make it easier for consumers who have a preference for what gender adviser they work with to find the right professional for them.”