More than half of all women arethe “chief financial officer” of their households and 57% say theyhave more earning power, according to a new report.

Allianz Life Insurance Company of NorthAmerica unveiled this finding in its “2013 Women,Money & Power Study.” More than 2,000 women ages 25-75 with aminimum annual household income of $30,000 participated in thesurvey.

While noting that women are becoming more financially confident,the study also finds that many women have not achieved financialsecurity.

“Today's women told us they have more responsibility for majorfinancial decisions than ever before and increased interest infinancial planning,” said Allianz Life Vice President of ConsumerInsights Katie Libbe. “Yet, although women are more confident aboutmanaging their finances, irrational fears about losing it all andbecoming a bag lady remain — evidence that they are stillunderserved by the financial industry.”

A majority of the women surveyedsay they primarily handle investment decisions, research retirementideas, handle tax preparation and teach their children about money.The financial crisis of 2007-2009 helped drive this trend, with 68%saying they have increased their financial involvement since thecrisis.

One in five of the survey respondents fits the profile of womenwho are actively involved in major investment decisions, understandfinancial products well and are interested in learning more aboutfinancial matters.

Among the report's additional findings:

• 17 percent of “women of influence” admit to keeping a secretstash of money their spouse or partner doesn't know about;
• Nearly half of all women (49 percent) still fear becoming a“bag lady.” The fear is strongest among single (56 percent) anddivorced women (54 percent), but is at almost the same levelamong Women of Influence (46 percent);
• 92 percent of single mothers say their family structure hasincreased the need for financial awareness;
• 62 percent of women don't have a financialprofessional, and among those that do, 69 percent donot view their financial professional as a go-to source ofinformation on how to spend, save and invest.