Valley sisters create platform to help women find vetted financial advisors

PHOENIX — On this Money Saving Monday, we’re tackling the alarming stats surrounding women and their finances.

According to a Federal Trade Commission report, women are 26% more likely to be targeted by financial fraudsters, and studies show one in four women will likely be targeted by financial crime.

Kaitlyn Laney works as a financial advisor at Trek Wealth Scottsdale. She knows the ins and outs of finances and helps others navigate theirs too. But unfortunately, Laney has spoken with far too many women who have been taken advantage of financially.

“I can’t believe that I’m even saying this, but truly too many to count,” she said. Laney even found herself in a bind when she thought she had signed up to get health care coverage. “I signed it, I paid the first premium and then I get my healthcare package in the mail… I opened it up and I start reading through it, and it wasn’t anything that I had bought,” Laney said.

Too many women have experienced the negative consequences of hiring individuals who didn’t deserve their trust, leading to inaction from the fear of choosing wrongly. 12News is sharing how a female-founded small business in Phoenix is working to provide women with a safe and trusted platform to find vetted financial advisors.

“I’ve seen countless women who have been the victim of financial crimes,” said Jenna Biancavilla, a Valley entrepreneur and wealth manager. Biancavilla knows the startling stats. “One in four women will be the victim of a financial crime at some point in her lifetime,” she said.

So, Biancavilla set out to solve that problem with her sister Janice Utke, who has a background working with technology teams, by creating a matching service for women called Svvy®.

“…an online vetting platform,” Biancavilla said. “We weed out all the bad actors in the financial services industry, and we connect women with advisors they can trust.” Biancavilla says the platform has been launched and live for a year now, connecting women, at no cost, with carefully vetted professionals.“We should be empowered to know that you can ask more questions, you can scrutinize your bills or your contracts or negotiate more,” said Utke, co-founder of Svvy. “…and I think having a bigger voice is something that we should be teaching our daughters… we should be teaching the upcoming generations.”

Biancavilla says the response has been incredible. “We’ve had countless women who have said, I finally took action and started moving forward in my finances,” she said.

As for Laney, she’s now encouraging other women to ask more questions, before trusting someone that claims to be an expert. “…to find people that are going to advocate and be on their side,” she said.

Laney even joined Jenna and Janice’s platform as an advisor to help others protect their finances. “…to get in the financial front seat,” said Laney. “When it comes to approaching your finances, I personally believe that the more questions we ask, the richer our lives will become.”