Has progress been made with the gender investment gap?
When we talk about levelling the playing field between men and women, it’s not just about jobs and education anymore.
The gender investment gap is a thing, and it’s getting worse according to a few different sources. This gap isn’t just about who’s putting more cash into stocks or bonds. It’s also about women facing hurdles when it comes to financial education, feeling empowered to make investment decisions and bold enough to make the moves.
Traditionally women have not been as involved in the investment world as their male counterparts, but has any progress been made?
The good
Shift in investment participation: Recent trends indicate a shift in how women approach investing. Traditionally, women have been less likely than men to engage in stock and share trading. However, the landscape is changing, with more women starting to invest, driven partly by the accessibility of online trading platforms.
Although women have been more cautious about entering the trading world, citing risks and a lack of knowledge as barriers, the gap is narrowing as educational resources become more widely available and tailored to encouraging female investors.
Increase in women investing in precious metals: In addition to stocks and shares, recent research from precious metal investment specialists BullionVault indicates that female precious metal buyers have doubled since the pandemic, indicating an increased confidence in some when it comes to portfolio diversification into alternative assets.
The bad
Persistent financial confidence gap: Research highlights that a much smaller percentage of women feel confident about investing their money compared to men. This lack of confidence is often attributed to a perceived lack of understanding of the investment world. This can act as a barrier when it comes to market participation, and needs to be addressed if we are to move forward effectively.
What can we do about it?
Increasing education and normalising investing is going to be crucial when it comes to increasing the number of women investing. This education will hopefully increase the confidence of female investors as Laura Lin, CEO of APAC Capital stipulates:
“A big part of trading and investing is about building confidence through research, education, and learning. If you aren’t fully informed, then you shouldn’t trade. More needs to be done to support all types of investors when it comes to investing in stocks and shares and other asset classes with different risk reward profiles.”
