Women in the investment market
Not all heroes wear capes — but women investors should undoubtedly do so. Before we explore all the new arising opportunities for women in finance, it would only be fair to take a look back at the history of women in finance. Women have often been overlooked with regards to positions of power. There has also been an evident early history of discrimination in the industry.HistoryGeraldine Weiss, an investment advisor, was one of the first women to make her name in the market. She learned everything about finance and investing from reading, research, listening to her parents’ conversations and studying finance at college. Investment firms were not keen on hiring her. Then, being a secretary was more relevant as a “womanly” profession, than being a financial professional. Despite her knowledge and studies, she was not able to attain a job within the sector. It was only in 1966, by the age of 40, that she decided to start her investment newsletter. Since she didn’t want to involve gender discrimination with what she did, she always ended her newsletters with “G. Weiss” rather than her name. When she gained a sustained amount of success concerning her newsletter, she revealed her identity as Geraldine. She further went on to publishing her newsletter “Investment Quality Trends”, for 37 years until she retired in 2003. The newsletter still exists and still follows Weiss’s strategy.This has a lot to do with why there is such a big gap between women and investments. The main question is, why don’t women actively invest in their financial security?Although in recent days, things have been notably more smooth, it is sometimes seen that financial professionals treat women differently. They are even less likely to listen to investment ideas from women and are also expected to push women out of business conversations. This might not be intentional, but it can be one of the most predominant reasons as to why women don’t try in the first place. Women have more detailed factors to their investments. For a male advisor, this might be difficult to understand. This is known because 29% of women prefer female advisors since they can relate to their reasonings more.
What does progress look like?The fact that financial professionals and companies are becoming more comfortable with accommodating more women investors, there have been several successful investments made by women. Some even generating more returns than men usually would from their investments. The growing advancement in more women-friendly financial improvements opens new opportunities for women, as more come forward with new ideas in terms of businesses and ideas. According to Forbes, 96% of women have shared responsibility for their family’s financial decisions. It shows an immense amount of advancement in terms of the discriminating of the past and the evolving open-mindedness of the present.
Even though women investors are less in number, they are proved to be much more successful in terms of their investments due to the fact that they think about money differently than men. The transition from traditional “budget makers” to “investment experts” wouldn’t be too far off, since women have historically managed finances within the household. The success rate should urge and inspire more women to step their foot forward to step onto the investment ladder to reach for their financial independence. We at Smart Crowd, are part of a movement where educating and empowering women to take control of their finances is normalised, as we strive to make investments accessible to everyone, regardless of their gender. Education is key to shifting the mindset and perception of women as investors.
“You can only truly become accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.”
Maya Angelou
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