Just a third of young investors are women, according to latest research from AJ Bell, which has extending its Money Matters campaign, aimed at increasing the number of female investors.
The firm’s new Money Matters website offers women with an interest in finance and investing the opportunity to sign up to a community of like-minded women and access free events, a podcast, articles and information from a range of experts.
The Money Matters campaign, founded in 2021, is spearheaded by Baroness Helena Morrissey and aims to tackle the “taboo topic” of talking about money and why women are less likely to invest than men.
Analysis of HMRC data by AJ Bell found only 35% of young stocks and shares ISA investors are women. While the gender gap narrows with age, it never reaches parity, peaking at 46% of women aged 65 and over.
By contrast, the analysis showed women are more likely to take a cautious approach and opt for cash savings, with women making up 56% of cash ISA savers.
However, AJ Bell warned that sticking to cash has a big impact on long term wealth. As an example, if someone saved the average ISA contribution of £8,690 a year in a cash account earning the average long term return for cash ISAs of 1.13%, they would have almost £92,500 after 10 years. However, if they had invested the same amount each year, earning 5% return a year, they would have almost £115,000 – more than £22,000 more. Over 20 years, the gap widens to almost £106,000.
Baroness Helena Morrissey, founding ambassador of Money Matters, says: “There isn’t a single good reason why men should have more money than women, whether that’s in savings, investments or their pension. Money Matters by AJ Bell is aiming to tackle the taboo topic of talking about money and shed light on all the various factors that mean women are less likely to invest – from the gender pay gap to the financial fallout of having children through to the impact menopause has on our money.
“We want women to be armed with all the information and inspiration to take action with their money, whether that’s saving more, engaging with their pension or starting to invest. The new website collates all this information into one place, as well as giving people the ability to sign up to our newsletter, to receive their monthly dose of investing inspiration.”
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