What Women Want

Busting the myth that women don’t take risks and invest only in traditional avenues like gold and fixed deposits, a recent survey revealed that mutual funds have emerged as the most preferred asset class for women irrespective of income or salary bracket even as gold and fixed deposits continue to find favour with them.

The survey also showed that of those women who do not invest, the primary reason is lack of knowledge, followed by “not enough savings to invest” and apprehension about losing their money in the market.

The survey was conducted by investment platform Groww in the run-up to International Women's Day on March 8. The survey included responses from 28,000 women. 

Lalit Keshre, CEO, Groww said that even after 70 years of independence, women's participation in the decision making regarding investing is very low. “The encouraging insight from the survey is that among the women who are investing, a majority of them take their own decisions. Even though many of them discuss their financial choices with their families or partners, the final decisions are their own. It's a remarkable shift from pre-conceived notions that men were the primary decision-makers even when it comes to managing women's wealth,” he added.

According to the survey, younger millennial women investors in the group of 18-25 years were three times more likely to choose a high-risk, high-return asset class like stocks over traditional investment options like FDs. Meanwhile, gold retained its place in the portfolio of women across age and income groups. The propensity to invest in gold, however, increased slightly with an increase in the income bracket. Overall, 25 per cent of surveyed women have invested in gold. 

Interestingly, the propensity to invest in real estate was higher in women making more than Rs 30 lakh per annum. Another noteworthy trend is that an increase in income level also saw an increase in the number of asset classes in the investment portfolio. When it comes to investing in cryptocurrencies, about 6 per cent of women making more than 30 lakh per annum have invested in cryptocurrencies. Only 4 percent of women earning less than Rs 10 lakh per annum have invested in cryptocurrencies in comparison, the survey showed.

Of those who do not invest, 49 perc ent stated that lack of knowledge is their main reason for not investing. Further, 32 per cent said that they don't have enough savings to invest. 13 per cent of women also felt apprehensive about losing their money in the market.