Australian women are investing more to build wealth

A recent study shows that the proportion of women among the 750 thousand investors in Australia still does not exceed 18%. However, the gender gap is gradually narrowing.

Recep Pecker who is a Research Director for Investment Trends declared that in recent years, and especially in 2019, the proportion of Australian women who came to invest for the first time reached 28% of this cohort, more than double the rate seen five-plus years ago.

According to him, despite the modest performance, Australia is far ahead of other markets. For example, in the United Kingdom, the percentage of female investors does not exceed 11%. In the United States, things are not much better – there, this figure is 21%.

Women investors are more inclined to study

For women, knowledge and education play a key role in their investment career, with Investment Trends data showing that women who invest in financial market assets seek to expand their knowledge and continue their education.

Pecker also noted that like their male counterparts, women most often rely on their personal research and company reports as the basis for making investment decisions, but they are much more likely to collaborate and discuss ideas with their friends and family members.

Currently, more than half of online investors say that they invest in one form or another in international assets, and this proportion is approximately the same for women (50%) and men (55%). But the desire to add foreign assets to your portfolio is also closely related to investment experience. In essence, the longer a person invests in markets, the more likely he or she will be looking for investments outside of Australia.

Pecker also commented on the study that, men and women choose different investment products when they enter international markets. Women, more often than men use ETFs (55% versus 49%) instead of direct shares (36% versus 46%).

It is clear that the main advantages of ETFs – low cost, easy access to a diversified portfolio – resonate strongly with women’s strategies, 

Pecker said that service providers and product manufacturers could make a positive contribution by helping women align their investments with their values, goals and aspirations. But for this, they must offer products and tools that will help them begin the investment path and then master new directions.

The study involved more than 13 thousand investors and traders. Thus, it has become Australia’s largest and most comprehensive independent study of the online trading industry.

So as the research shows the gap is slowly diminishing between men and women.