A study by wealth management platform StashAway has revealed that women are more likely to hold on to their investments than men. The StashAway Insights 2022: Bridging the Gender Investing Gap study also indicated that women, in general, tend to invest more consistently than their male counterparts.

According to the study, female investors in Malaysia – along with those in Thailand, Hong Kong, the Middle East, and Singapore – are more likely to stay invested than male investors. In Malaysia – where the StashAway platform has been around since October 2018 – women are 1.18 times more likely to remain invested compared to men. 

The study also indicated that women in Malaysia are 1.22 times more likely to continue investing on a monthly basis over a period of 20 months from their first deposit. A similar trend is also observed in more mature markets, such as Singapore, although the contrary was reported in Middle East.

While women are more likely to invest consistently over a longer period than men, the study also noted that women in the various markets studied are not investing enough. It further cited that almost 60% of women around the world are not engaged in investing or retirement planning, while 58% of them let their male partners decide on their long-term financial planning. 

Another key finding is that women check their investments less frequently than men. Among Malaysian investors, women are 1.44% less likely to log in to their investment accounts in the first 30 days of making their investments. This trend is also seen in Singapore, Thailand, the Middle East, and Hong Kong. The study highlighted that login frequency is often linked to impulsive and loss-averse investing behaviours; investors with these behaviours are more likely to check their investments frequently, as well as tend to react prematurely to short-term market volatility and withdraw their investments. 

Finally, the study found that women tend to choose lower-risk investment portfolios compared to men. Based on the StashAway Risk Index (SRI) – which indicates the 1% probability of losing a given percentage in asset value in any year – female investors in Malaysia prefer lower-risk portfolios (SRI 20%) as compared to male investors, who tend to choose portfolios with slightly higher risk (SRI 25%). Similarly, female investors in other StashAway markets also have a lower risk appetite than their male counterparts. 

The StashAway Insights 2022 drew its data from StashAway’s customers in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, and the Middle East. The study looked into the differences in investing behaviours between female and male investors in an effort to raise public awareness of the gender investing gap. This is also to inspire more women to take charge of their personal finances, and to promote stronger financial literacy among the people. 

(Source: StashAway) 

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• The StashAway Insights 2022: Bridging the Gender Investing Gap