Women feel less confident managing investments than their male counterparts, new research from Rathbones has revealed.
A survey of more than 3,000 UK adults with investable assets ranging from £25,000 to over £2.5 million shows that although women are highly engaged when it comes to saving, investing and pension planning, they tend to be more cautious, less confident and more likely to doubt their investment knowledge than men.
While 80% of men say they feel confident managing their savings and investments, only 67% of women said the same.
Over a third (36%) of women say they lack knowhow to manage their investments themselves, compared with 23% of men.
Meanwhile, four in 10 (40%) men say they are happy to take a high level of risk to achieve a high return, versus 25% of women. Around 35% of women say stocks and shares are too risky, while only 23% of men say the same.
Data from HMRC shows around half a million more men than women subscribe to stocks and shares ISAs. By contrast, women dominate cash ISA ownership.
Rebecca Williams, financial planning divisional lead at Rathbones, said: “Taken together, the findings challenge outdated assumptions that women are uninterested in investing. Instead, they show women are active and engaged planners who often approach investing more cautiously – largely due to lower confidence rather than lack of interest.
“It’s about having access to the right resources, information and support to give women the confidence to make investment decisions.
“With women typically earning less over their lifetimes, taking more career breaks, living longer and retiring with smaller pension pots, this information gap risks compounding existing financial inequalities over time.”
Rather than avoiding investing altogether, the findings suggest women are more likely to seek guidance, reassurance and a relationship-based approach, Rathbones said.
Six in 10 women say they want a personalised service from someone who knows them, while nearly three quarters (73%) of women say they are happy to pay for financial advice if it delivers a better outcome, compared with 56% and 70% of men, respectively.
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