Typically, when you think of the ideal investor, you picture a young but wise, adult, white male. He dominates the field with his briefcase and impressively diversified portfolio. This leaves women silently observing and sitting in the shadows as wealth jumps from man to man. However, these are now the exact women who are taking the bull by the horns, starting their very own financial revolution.
The only way we have is up
For many, a time when women had no control over their finances and financial
freedom is now unthinkable and contained in the history books. Fairytales, these “once upon a time” allegories of the poor housewives who weren’t allowed near a cheque-book, even by law. While the laws for women owning bank accounts and having control over their assets have shifted, this absolutely does not negate the lasting societal impact and the implicit ways in which many of the constructs around financial services are upheld. From my own experience, I can see women are still intimidated by the notion of investing. They still feel like this is a man’s domain, even with access to the best tools out there.
It is impossible to find one single culprit behind this issue; there are multiple perspectives to see it from. For me, these centre around an obvious representation issue. In general, we still mostly see men on the covers of financial magazines or in movies that show the bustling financial advisor and his less financially competent wife – if only she knew how the stock market works!
While this isn’t the case everywhere, it is clear to see that the longer we push personal finance as a strictly gendered, masculine endeavour, the longer women will feel left out and excluded, even with the stock exchange at their fingertips.
The truth
While on a societal level there is a long way to go, we have made progress, and things are looking up. More and more women are shattering these archaic perceptions by taking their financial situations and transforming them all on their own, because they can.
In crypto, women are more interested than ever. They are buying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with great success. A Greyscale investor study found that only 15% of bitcoin investors are women. However, 47% of all female investors surveyed said they would consider investing in Bitcoin which is an improvement from 43% in 2019. Overall, 2020 and 2021 have seen much faster growth for women in crypto.
Women are also taking to social media, starting accounts and creating businesses to influence and empower other women to get into personal finance and education, all so that a greater level of financial literacy is achieved. In a society that benefited from the lack of urgency in women, empowering them to get up and try things out is a game-changer that yields real results.
This is why I think we need to put in way more effort into tackling the root of the problem instead of its symptoms: women have a harder entry barrier into finance because they are implicitly excluded by lack of education geared directly to them. Representatives who are women, and not just ‘superhero’ women, but also everyday women who want to think about their finances, will make this common and mainstream.
Conclusion
While we have made many strides forward, there is more to be done. We can have all the investment platforms, exchanges and tech innovations but none of this means anything unless women are involved and at the centre. Whether it’s in strategy creation, or women-oriented campaigns, appointing women in chief positions in the fintech industry e.t.c, the system needs to be shifted from within, and women need to feel empowered in knowing that they too can learn about their finances and take control of what is theirs.
