Those interested in investing in companies that focus on gender equality, please consider voting for this ETF to be added to Ftâs stock and ETF universe:
Quite a lot of generalisations here. Thereâs no innate reason why women would see the stock market as boring, would not be interested in computing and donât play games (not to mention the ratios, re: gaming at least, are improving).
The idea that investing is just aligned with âguys interestsâ is why a lot of women wonât get into it. Theyâll think itâs not for them.
I was being very general, but i was talking generally - To try to avoid falling into the sexism, stereotype pit etc which i probably semi-failed at!
- Also agree with all your points Lorna! (In hindsight, the word boring was not best used)
I was just stating my reasons as to why I think more men invest vs women - not that i agree with the howâs and whyâs at all!
I know a number of men and women who invest. I agree that it was perhaps a male dominated field traditionally, but most things were. It is difficult for anyone, no matter their gender, to understand the markets without education. I have followed this forum for a while and regularly read posts I struggle to understand!
FT is an excellent platform for all to use and it breaks down a number of barriers with its easy access and layout. Investing can be fun and the experience should be interesting and enjoyable, as well as lucrative. FT enables this journey for everyone no matter their gender.
Gender-free-trade!
So from a personal female perspective; - we are risk averse and look long term as, talking very generally here, we tend to run the home which takes alot of mental & physical time. Thus we donât have the time to devote hours to investing as we are holding a job outside the home and also being household PA, nanny, gardner, personal shopper, tailor, chauffeur, domestic goddess, chef, chief bottle washer, housekeeper, elderly parent carer etc, etc, etc also know as Mum. Luckily my Dad introduced me to the Stock Market and I am successful after many years! See Are women better investors than men? | News | Warwick Business School for why.
⊠autopilot ⊠just saying
Iâm thinking it might become my #1 investing tool from freetrade - stop me worrying and making snap decisions, just sit back and let it ride.
(Yeah right, still checks share prices every 2 minutes)
Just a suggestion, but video or written testimonials that resonate with a subset of your target audience may help when it comes to marketing or target advertising later down the line.
Just seen this example from Plum:
https://www.instagram.com/withplum/tv/BwCSJu1ndDu/
I wonder itâs not so much that women are better investors than men and more that the women who do invest have better educations than some of the men and were perhaps raised in middle to upper class households where investing was/is talked about. It would be interesting to have a more detailed profile of these successful female investors in regard to what is their educational level, class and ethnic background as I believe this might reveal a great deal.
As more men invest it is possible that investing pulls in a broader range of men in regards to their level of education, socio-economic backgrounds and ethnic groups. It would be interesting to know the profiles of men who invest and then compare the percentages.
Certainly gender (or hormones) may play a role in investing too. Men tend to enjoy the thrill of gambling and certainly tend to relish more risk than women so investing could be an exciting outlet for a man.
Testosterone tends to drive men to take more risk so being less successful at investing may have less to do with the old grey matter and more to do with being a victim of your hormones. Yes, and women may be risk averse for a whole spectrum of reasons beyond hormones. Itâs already been pointed out that women often earn less than men, and women, especially if they are mothers or caring for elderly relatives, tend to have less time and energy to devote to getting their heads around stocks, TA, fundamental analysis and all that it entails. Women will also be more fearful about losing money if itâs more difficult for them to make up their losses because of lower salaries or more hurdles in finding work that fits around their home responsibilities.
Those men who are the main breadwinners may also feel more pressure to find ways of earning more income. But if investing becomes exciting it will most likely become dangerous too. I believe it was Warren Buffet who said that if you find investing exciting then youâre not doing it right; that investing should be boring. So, if women find investing boring they will either steer clear of it all together or they will devote as little time to it as possible. And, of course, if they have educated themselves enough they may have made hands-off âboring investingâ a part of their actual strategy. So, by not fiddling too much with their portfolios and making less riskier trades women will succeed and beat men in the sphere of investing.
Of course, there are women who enjoy risk too, as there are women who enjoy computers and technology. But, education is clearly a problem if a woman thinks stocks is just about that. Itâs a fine line to tread as if you make the overtures to women too âpinkâ then they may feel youâre getting a little condescending. The bottom line is about seeing how hard you can make your money work for you at a time when interest rates are lousy and may even drop further (thereâs IMF talk about banks in various countries embracing minus-3 per cent interest rates after the next financial crisis, which experts say could hit anytime soon.)
Certainly, itâs a good idea for women (and men) to learn more about money, various assets and investing. Itâs a pity schools donât educate better but of course you could say that thereâs an agenda with keeping the majority of people ignorant and retaining a ruling financial elite.
Freetrade might want to think about how it can reach out more to women and other groups in society who are not so well represented in the financial sphere and suffer because they donât know how to start making their money work harder.
In the video I only cite the data sourced from multiple studies, listed below.
Forbes: Why Women Are Better At Investing
Investors Daily: Women Investing In The Stock Market Are Better Than Men, Studies Show
Her Money: https://www.hermoney.com/invest/financial-planning/women-better-investors-men/
Nutmeg: Why women are better investors - Nutmegonomics
They mention a studies ranging from 2500 investors to a fidelity study of 8 million accounts that showed a better performance from women vs. male counterparts - so more empirical based evidence. Then giving their reasons/theories why.
Thereâs also a survey in there somewhere that says 91% of respondents think men are better, but why the evidence suggests otherwise.
One woman mentioned was Geraldine Weiss, who wrote a segment in a business newsletter and made stock recommendations and her recommendations performed at 11.2% average annual return beating the market - she had a very strict investment criteria. itâs in the Forbes article for anyone interested.
Me personally, I just find what Iâve learned in these articles really interesting and I just focus on where I can apply the tips to my investment journey.