I have encountered this sort of idea when trying to mention investig to people I know when trying to pass on freind referral links.
I can understand it to a point.
Iām a woman but generally shun Women This and Women That. I know itās well intended, and Iām not wanting to criticise, but my feeling is that when itās āWomen something or otherā, the message - though unintended - is that women are not as good as men, so they need their own special day/awards/whatever.
Why not do a piece on āpeopleā who invest, and feature an equal balance of men and women, without saying āATTENTION, ATTENTION, WOMEN INVOLVEDā?
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Unfortunately, not all aspects of society are equal for all so promoting areas for minority groups (women are a minority in the investment world) is intended to reduce that gap and raise awareness that women are welcomed ( or hopefully welcomed) in the investing sphere.
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This quote is taken from Jamer Montierās little book of Behavioral Investing
One group has been found to be more over-optimistic and more over-confident than
every other group in psychology studiesāsadly for me, it is men. Terry and Brad also
wanted to see if this showed up in trading behavior. It did. Women had markedly lower
annual turnover rates, 53 percent, compared to men ās 77 percent. Women ended up
with higher net returns than men.
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I find there is a trend where āwomen inā is focussed on what larger society often sees as male dominated job roles, volunteering and hobbies.
Examples are women in engineering and women in the military etc.
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When I see investment articles aimed at women I read them to see how they differ from other articles.
The fact is that more men invest so most pieces are written in a way to capture their attention, in the use of language, numbers etc. Itās probable that many women are just put off by those articles or maybe canāt see how it can all relate to them.
Iām still waiting for that great article to be written so I can forward to my (female) friends to get them investing - they have no interest whatsoever.
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What would it need to include/discuss to attract a more female audience in your view?
Missed this initially. Glad Freetrade is tapping into the stories of female investors too 
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Unless itās Warren Buffett 
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Iām not sure because I donāt need the extra attraction 
Iād say that the main reason why my friends donāt invest seems to be that they ādonāt want to lose all their moneyā so they would rather have all their cash sitting in their ISAs earning pittance and getting eroded by inflation.
How to persuade them to see past their fears?
Iāve managed to get one friend to invest a little in a GIA and after a year, she still sends me crying emojis when her portfolio is down (although at least she doesnāt panic sell) but then she will go on a buying spree when the markets are up because sheās feeling āconfidentāā¦ 
I guess at least I got her investing in the first place but she will have to learn.
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I guess as always, it is as much a temperament thing.
That said, I have always considered females to be superior in that regard!
Iāve picked up from the discussion pages there seems to be more men than women investing. I think part of the issue is it still be regarded by some as being risky and almost like gambling. I would say that applies to men as well though.
I think there is still a way to go with changing attitudes towards investing. I also think apps like Freetrade make it much more accessible than what it was previously and hopefully more people in general will start to invest.
I do agree with the previous comment that separating women out is not really helpful. It would be better to do an article including men as well and it being about investors in general. I keep getting invited on social media to go to this female investing webinar and it honestly annoys me. Itās like saying as I am a woman I need guidance and support to be able to invest, whereas men know what they are doing. Iām sure Iām not the only one that feels that way about these things!
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Agree - although how to make women even look at an article which includes āinvestingā in the title when they donāt think it would apply to them even remotely (unless you made it obvious in the title, eg 'Women, you too can invest!"
Obvs you can tell Iām not in Marketing, have no idea what I would say!
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I think this ties into the general work that needs done on attitudes to investment. Maybe more marketing aimed at educating everyone about investing and trying to dispel myths about it being gambling. Also I think highlighting that itās for everyone, not just wealthy people who have large sums to invest but also those who want to put a small amount monthly in, this is where Freetrade has a great advantage, as it opens up investing to that section of the market. I wasnāt aware of Freetrade until I found it on a google search, so I think it just needs a bigger push by the marketing team.
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Sorry but share investing is a risky business akin to gambling. The FCA insists that brokers make this very clear. It is crucial that everyone understands that their capital is permanently at risk.
We can see from many of the comments on the threads that people are gambling. They do little to no research on their flutter (reading gossip is not investing). They think that the only direction for stocks is up. A casual exercise in Googling will reveal various studies that show that a large number of traders lose money.
However, on the plus side, Freetradeās ābest sellerā lists suggest that an awful lot of people who buy/sell on Freetrade are rather sensible and prudent and very likely will over the long term do well.
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The answer to the original question can only be given by Freetrade.
I could make a guess based on HMRC numbers but given the demographics that Freetrade plays to I think I might be wildly off. But you can be reasonable sure that more women (and men) invest with Freetrade than actively participate in the forums.
The media donāt help with their āthis stock has crashedā over dramatic headlines or this person made a fortune in a week by playing the stock market, they love to portray the stock market as some kind casino (which it can be for the non sensible). I suppose a story about a woman who retired comfortably at 55 or earlier after investing a small amount every week for her working life doesnāt make a great story. When you consider just about everybodyās pension, state and otherwise relies on the stock market and most of us wouldnāt have jobs without it, you have to wonder why they donāt make a sensible programme explaining how it all works and the benefits of investing.
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Disagree entirely with your comment on it being similar to gambling. Depends on the individual and yes there are some people who are not doing their research but many do.
The fact that you can access information and make an educated decision on whether to invest or not removes investing from being like gambling. You cannot compare sticking Ā£2 on a lottery ticket, to all investing by all people. Itās down to the level of research you are willing to do. Itās not fail safe and no you are not guaranteed to make money but there is more to it than a stroke of luck, like winning the lottery is.
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I am happy to reiterate my comment: Share trading is a risky business. Your capital is 100% at risk. The FCA insists that you know this. The legally required KIIDs go out of their way to emphasise this. Freetrade is obliged to state this on adverts. It is obliged to state this on newsletters and all marketing materials. All brokers are.
You are right, one should attempt to mitigate oneās risks. But risks they are. Some will lose out and some will gain. The likelihood is the day traders and those who buy/sell frequently will lose out. Not all but most. The day/week/month traders are gambling. And many commentators admit that they are making bets ā¦ it is cheap and easy to do so with very small amounts of money involved: they are being honest with themselves.
The vast number of comments on forums are not research and are no where near research. But it appears, at least to me, that a vast number of buys and sells on Freetrade are sensible ones (on the ābest seller listsā) especially if they are long term holds. So a lot of people are sensible.
Anyway the real point is simply this: Share trading is a gamble and each and everyone of us needs to understand and be personally comfortable with the level of risk we take. The risk is not a myth.
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Totally agree here that investing is not the same as gambling and I speak as both a long term investor and a long term gambler.
Money I throw into my Betfair or Bet365 accounts is money I can afford to lose.
Money I throw at my SIPP/ISA is money I canāt afford to lose but which I donāt need in the short term.
Iām investing for the future, for my retirement, I canāt afford to lose that money.
The risk I am taking is that I may not get as much as I thought I would, capital at risk etc, but with a diversified portfolio and research (as mentioned by @Emmie), Iām unlikely to lose it all like a bad bet. Over the long term, Iām more likely to benefit from market gains and compounding (eg dividends).
There are risks, but theyāre not the same.
Traders are gambling, not investing. Investing, ie slowly building wealth by steadily buying ETFs (for example) is not exciting.
Gambling however is exciting.
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