More than a third of high net worth women surveyed (35%) do not have an investment portfolio, according to YouGov research commissioned by Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management (CGWM). This is compared to 17% of male HNW respondents who are in the same position.
One of the reasons behind this – according to the study – is that wealthy women are not confident that investments will make a contribution to their long-term financial future. HNW women tend to have more confidence in property (48%) as an asset class that could contribute to their financial future. The survey showed they have far less confidence in investment portfolios (27%) and pensions (15%).
In contrast, wealthy men are much more convinced that investing will contribute to their long-term financial future. 38% of HNW men believe that their investment portfolio will contribute most to their long-term wealth, followed by pensions (28%) and then property (27%).
Wealthy female respondents also reported being more cautious investors – 45% of women compared to 23% of men. And women are more likely to say they are not confident about their financial future than their male counterparts (13% of women compared to 9% of men).
Duncan Stratford, Head of UK Front Office at Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management commented: “Time and again studies have shown that investing in the markets provides the best return of any asset class. And other studies have shown that in most cases, women would rather leave their money in cash or invest in property than invest in the markets. Women have an inherent mistrust of investing, but they are missing out on an opportunity to secure their financial future if they don’t have a portfolio in place.Similarly with pensions – the fact that only 15% of female respondents think that pensions will contribute the most to their long-term financial future is worrying.
“This is a clarion call to the financial services industry that they need to understand the underlying reasons why women aren’t investing and collectively, work together to clarify the benefits of pensions and investments.”
