- 72% of female investors invest at least monthly
- 16% invest a third or more of their monthly income
- 53% say the pandemic has had an impact on their investment habits
With the rise of the retail investor and more people investing in the markets than ever before, we set out to learn more about women’s goals and strategies when investing.
We found that the overwhelming majority of female investors – four out of five – are confident they’ll reach their desired income in retirement if they continue with their current investment strategy, and nearly 1 in 5 plan to reach this goal within the next five years. These statistics were just some of the findings in a recent survey we conducted of 9,500 female investors from around the world. Read on for more!
The top reasons women invest
According to the women surveyed, the top reasons they invest are to outperform savings, supplement income, improve lifestyle, generate a one off payment, and attain financial independence.
Many of these women began investing to generate extra income and to counter low interest rates. Around a fifth (22%) began investing 3 to 5 years ago; 11% started 6-10 years ago and nearly half (47%) started 2 years ago or less.
- Just over a fifth (22%) cite ‘long-term security’ as the main reason they began this journey.
- For 21%, achieving financial independence in order to retire early is their number one motivation.
- 76% of female investors regard investing as part of their household financial management.
The consequences of the pandemic continue to be felt with 53% of female investors saying it’s had an impact on their investment habits, and almost a third (30%) feeling more pressure to improve their financial situation; whilst 29% say they now need a savings pot, and 24% say they are now focussed on a long-term financial goal.
Where are female investors putting their money?
The most popular investment held by the women we surveyed was domestic stocks (41%). This was followed by cryptoassets (36%), domestic bonds (25%), foreign stocks (23%), alternative investments (23%), cash (21%), commodities (14%), foreign bonds (13%) and currencies (11%).
As to which assets female investors are planning to invest in for the future, the top answer was crypto (35%). Other assets include domestic stocks (32%), alternative investments (28%), foreign stocks (23%), domestic bonds (22%), commodities (21%), cash (17%), foreign bonds (14%) and currencies (12%). Female investors surveyed believe the best investment opportunities over the next three months will come from green energy and renewables followed by MAMAA stocks (Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet).
How social investing can help
Women tend to lean heavily on personal recommendations for information on how and when to invest, with nearly 1 in 2 female investors (47%) turning to friends, family or colleagues for insight. Thus a social investing platform like eToro could help provide access to more of this type of community-based knowledge sharing.
eToro’s Global COO and Deputy CEO, Dr Hedva Ber commented on the survey’s findings. “Female investors are using investing as a powerful lever to secure their futures, boost income, and/or to build net wealth. It is clear from the research that female investors are carving out their own future, and building for the long-term, something which is to be celebrated.
“Women clearly want to improve their finances, and crave more education around investing. We need to respond to the calls for more female role models and ensure they represent the diversity of women who could benefit from knowing more about investing. Financial education is key and while progress is being made there is more work to do. We have a responsibility to make a positive difference to women’s lives now and in the future.”
More than half the female investors surveyed cited the need for more female role models. Commenting on the research, Heloise Greeff, an eToro Popular Investor, said: “I started my investing journey on eToro to gain financial freedom to be independent of society’s expectations of me as a woman. Although imposter syndrome prevented me from starting sooner, I have since learned that I am capable of much more than I could have imagined.
“Investing has taught me patience, discipline, and focus. More importantly, it has given me the means to control my future and grow my money for my family and myself. I believe financial equality is the final frontier of true equality.
“I hope that my example can ignite courage for other women to take the first step toward financial gender equity.”
Survey research conducted by Appinio from 4th February – 15th February 2022. 9,504 female retail investors sampled across 14 countries. 1,000 in each: UK, US, Germany, France, Spain and Australia. 500 in the following: Italy, Sweden, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic, Denmark (319) and Norway (185). Female investors were defined as those who held investments such as bonds, funds, cryptoassets, currencies, equities, FX and cash linked to stock markets. They did not need to be eToro users.
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