Why we need more womeninvestors

Money is not a woman’s business

An all-male line-up on our banknotes sends out the damaging message that no woman has done anything important enough to appear.

And women don’t like to talk about money

Let’s keep it secret• Despite the fact that 92% of the women involved

in the study want to learn more about financial planning, and 83% want to get more involved in their finances in the next year, a whopping 80% admitted that they have refrained from discussing money with family and friends.

• In addition, only 47% feel confident when talking about finances with a financial professional —compared to 77% who would be comfortable discussing medical issues with their doctor.

78% of women are considered financially illiterate - WSJ

92% are eager to learn more aboutTheir finances.

Women at the Forefront

Financial Literacy

Women are more comfortable talking about their health than their wealth

• …says Kristen Robinson, Senior Vice President of Women and Young Investors at Fidelity Investments based on findings from Fidelity’s Money FIT Women Study, released today.

• Eight in 10 women avoid financial conversations because they are “too personal” or “uncomfortable,” according to the online study of 1,542 women with employer-sponsored retirement plans.

• Even in the milieu of romantic relationships — where financial assets are often shared— Fidelity found that women are more likely to talk with their significant others about health issues (78 percent) and sex (74 percent) than salary (66 percent) or investment ideas (65 percent).

• Women’s anxiety about discussing money occurs even if they’re talking to a financial adviser. Less than half of women Fidelity surveyed (47 percent) say they’d be confident talking about money and investments with a financial professional. And half of women who have a primary investment firm haven’t spoken with a rep there, Fidelity said.

Privacy worries• Fifty-six percent of respondents have refrained from

discussing finances with friends or family because money was "too personal,"

• 35% didn't want to share financial information with those they were close to, and 27% were raised not to discuss finances.

• In addition, 32% of women feel uncomfortable discussing money, and 16% feel that the issue is taboo. Twenty-six percent claim that the topic never comes up in conversation.

• In short, it's really tough to talk about money when we are socialized to keep this kind of information private.

• We worry that talking about money will make us vulnerable, make someone feel bad, or simply cross a tacit societal boundary — and those worries are not without merit.

Lack of confidence• In addition to privacy concerns, women often have difficulty talking

about money because they assume they do not know enough about the subject.

• Fourteen percent of respondents worry that talking about money would be a waste of time and 10% feel as though they do not understand finances well enough to talk intelligently about it.

• According to Kathy Murphy, president of Fidelity's Personal Investing:

• "Beneath women's reticence to talk about money lies a lack of confidence in their knowledge of financial planning and investing. This lack of confidence is really self-imposed. Our analysis of more than 12 million investors shows that women actually demonstrated stronger saving rates than their male counterparts and enjoyed better long-term investment performance when they did engage. Unfortunately, too many women still hesitate to take control of their finances."

That confidence gap can feel like a Catch-22

• You feel foolish for not knowing things, but asking questions feels too intimidating. So you continue worrying in silence and assuming you don't know enough to talk intelligently.

• Paradoxically, while women are in fact confident in financial matters, many persist in using self-deprecating language when asked about their ability to manage their finances.

Women and men don't have the same relationship to money

• For one thing, women are likely to have less of it.

• While the wage gap between men and women is getting smaller, women still earn about $11,500 less in a year.

• As a result, women save less and are hesitant to take risk when it comes to investing the money they do save.

And millennial women do not seem to be focusing on building wealth at the same

rate as millennial men

• Per Wells Fargo only 50% of millennial women have started saving for retirement versus 61% of millennial men.

• Subsequently, only 41% of millennial women feel satisfied with their savings level, compared with 58% of millennial men.

• Starting to save and invest early (even if in small amounts) is crucial owing to the powerful effect of compounding.

Only 18 % of millennial women (compared to 29% of millennial men) demonstrate high financial literacy.

• While this is a concerning statistic, this is one area where the gender gap appears to be closing as the percentage point difference between the genders for millennials is 11-points vs. 21-points for Gen Xers and 25-points for Boomers.

• The financial industry must take some responsibility for closing the confidence gap:

• Research by the Boston Consulting Group found that women (globally) are more dissatisfied with the financial services industry than with any other industry!

• As the industry is still mainly run by men, catering to men, women often feel as if their needs are not being met. “Married women are often considered mere appendages to their husbands. It should come as no surprise, then, that more than 70% of married women fire their financial professionals within one year of their husbands’ deaths.”

Men still earn and control the majority of the wealth

Empowering women: uncovering financial inclusion barriersSteering trends to serve the goal

Of the unbanked worldwide, 55%, or 1.1 billion, are women, according to Findex.

So the investment field ends up being largely male

dominated

Women only run a mere 2% of hedge funds, although a large percentage of them are in the top quartile of

performers during the past ten years.• Less than one-third of venture capital firms in the U.S.

employ even one woman who participates in business or investment decisions, and only 9 percent of mutual fund managers are women, according to a 2015 study from investment researcher Morningstar.

• There are plenty of women in back-office roles in finance, but few have the final say over where the money is invested.

• In the KPMG report, only 14 percent of executive women surveyed across the finance industry—which included venture capital companies and hedge funds—held the post of chief executive officer, and only 21 percent were in roles that let them manage money, with the vast majority of women relegated to marketing or compliance.

Yet, funds run by women have better results…

• In fact, funds owned and run by women have returned an average of 59.43 percent since 2007, compared with an average of 36.69 percent for the whole industry, according to figures released in September by Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research Inc., which last year launched its first index exclusively tracking women.

Female investors behave differently

• Studies have consistently shown that female investors appear to have three common behavioral differentiators that set them apart from men:– they experience fewer losses caused by

overconfidence and overtrading,

– they exhibit greater discipline in their investing decisions,

– they focus more on protecting their investments from downside risk.

BETTER OUTCOMES FOR EVERYONE

• Womenwork2/3oftheworld’sworkinghoursandearn10%oftheincomeandown1%oftheproperties(GlobalPovertyProject)

• 70%ofworld’spoorarewomen(GlobalPovertyProject)yetabillionwomenarepoisedtoentertheworkforce(Strategy&)

• IncreasesingirlseducationresultsinadecreaseinbothhumanandfiscalcostsassociatedwithchallengessuchasdomesticviolenceandHIV(BasicEd)

• GendergapsinlabourforcesdecreaseGDPforbothrichandpoorcountries(GoldmanSachs)• Witheveryincreaseof10%ingirlsgoingtoschool,acountry’sindividualGDPrisesby3%

(GlobalPovertyProject)• Achievinggenderequalitycouldadd12trilliontotheworldGDP(McKinsey)

WOMEN DO MORE WITH LESS CAPITAL

• Womenentrepreneursareoutperformingmalecounterpartswithlesscapitalavailabletothem(YahooFinance)

• Womenledprivatetechcompaniessee35%moreinROIandand12%increasesinrevenuewith33%lesscapital(KauffmanFoundation)

POTENTIAL FOR OUTPERFORMANCE

• Womenledteamsoutperformmaleteamsbuthybridteamsoutperformoverall(MIT)• Companieswithmorewomeninboardseatsorseniorleadershipareperformingbetterintermsof

sales,profitabilityandinvestedcapital(Catalyst/CreditSuisse/PetersonInstitute)• Publiccompanieswithahigherproportionofwomenleadersenjoy46%higherROIand51%EBITDA

margin(McKinseyandCompany)• Growthofwomen-ownedsmallbusinesseswith10m+revenueis50%faster(AmericanExpress)• Companieswithgreaterboarddiversitydisplayexcessstockmarketreturnswhenadjustedforsector

bias.Theyalsoexhibithigherreturnsonequity,highervaluationsandhigherpayoutratios(CreditSuisse)• Thereisapositiverelationshipbetweengenderbasedinvestmentapproachesandhigherreturns(UBS)

FindrelateddataatWomenMovingMillions.com

why invest WITH A

?women effect

“What would have happened if LehmanBrothers had been Lehman Sisters?”

And it is crucial to incorporate “feminine values” into finance

• The lack of diversity in investment and leadership world, the herd philosophy led to massive economic crisis.

• There is a necessity for a new model incorporating feminine values, a different way of doing business.

• Which looks for economic but also emotional capital. Financial and Social return. Profit with principles. And it Works and the returns are better.

3 reasons why women haven’t flourished in the startup ecosystem

• Bias: Even Paul Graham admits to falling in love with founders that resemble Mark Zuckerberg. Assuming that a big part of that connotation lies in the founder’s frequency of past exits, there are arguably fewer women who come to mind – at least for now. It’s the same superficial psychology that makes your ex’s lookalikes attractive. As a result, far fewer women achieve VC funding, making them generally less successful in the startup ecosystem overall.

• Connections: In the early stage investment industry, most deal flow comes from referrals from trusted investment sources. In our interview, Alicia comments that ‘Often we [Elizabeth Kraus and Alicia] are the only women in the room’. Investment started out as an ‘old boys’ game, and, as they say, old habits die hard. This has made it notoriously difficult for women to break in, and to make connections who provide that vital source of deal flow.

• Confidence: The Wells Fargo Affluent Women Retirement Survey showed that a startling 49% of affluent women do not feel confident when investing, which is, again, a likely result of the territorial ‘gentlemans’ club’ mentality attached to the industry. Ironically, this risk avoidance is part of what makes women better investors: The aforementioned study by Fidelity Investments showed that women tended towards more balanced portfolios, which should always be encouraged.

And rich women tend to be philanthropists rather than investors

50% of women give to women and girls causes but less than 1% currently

invests with a gender lens.

Women at the Forefront

Investment channels funds to the projects who will shape the future

You have savings? Invest!

Which initiatives are shifting the balance of the investment

world?

2 Ways To Get More Women Investing

• Invest in female entrepreneurs: Most business angels are former entrepreneurs. That’s what makes them a fantastic source of smart money. It makes sense that entrepreneurialism and investing are intrinsically linked; when more female entrepreneurs receive early stage funding, more will see their businesses prosper, and will go on to re-invest the profits back into the startup ecosystem. To do that, we need to remove that inherent and superficial bias towards male founders

• Investing Programs: For those who lack confidence in their investments – many of whom, unfortunately, seem to be women – there may be a practical solution. By syndicating those people into an investment network, programs like Alicia’s ‘Rising Tides’ program spread the risk across all parties, promoting confidence. That same syndicate then acts as a network of connections, providing that invaluable deal flow. Moreover, many programs offer an educational element, with lead investors guiding, mentoring and advising the network.

• Gender in the investment industry has media outlets for years, but one simple solution remains, Support. As an ecosystem, we must remove historic biases and actively support female founders and investment, whether that means investing in their startups or improving their confidence as investors.

Micro finance and loans for women

Financial education

In partnership with the NFEC we’ve created Arora Education, an engaging online learning system. With it our members can become fully financially literate during the course of a semester. Our financial education is available for free in English and in Spanish.

Women at the Forefront

Financial Education

Arora Wallet gives women the tools they need to put their financial

education in practice delivering a free tailor-made personal money management and financial dashboard app.

Women at the Forefront

Lets close the financial gender gap together

Women at the Forefront

A few tips• 1. Find a financial "buddy."– By making time on a regular basis to discuss financial

matters with a trust-worthy friend, family member, mentor or financial expert, tackling financial goals can become less overwhelming and more attainable. In the same way that "gym buddies" keep each other motivated, financial confidantes can help both parties make progress and stay accountable.

• 2. Join an online conversation.– Take advantage of online conversations with other

women looking to get more involved in their finances, as well as experts providing insights and guidance.

A few tips• Change the language. Just as we need to ban the word “bossy,”

we need to eliminate the negative stigma associated with women discussing their finances. It does not make a woman money-hungry – but rather educated, smart, and prepared.

• Get educated. Education is the key propellant to change. Young girls in school should be proud to excel in math, science, and computer programming class. Young women in college should be required to enroll in personal finance and accounting classes, regardless of their major.

• Embrace asking for help. Most people view asking for help as a weakness – but in reality, those on the giving end of it feel fulfilled by giving help. Asking for help is a great way to start the conversation as it relates to your finances – and will get you used to speaking about it, without coming from a powerful, authoritative position. As you get more comfortable speaking about money and finances, you won’t need to approach it from a position of asking for help – you can be the one helping others.

A few tips• Kick-start your financial education at your own pace.• There are numerous tools, tips and reference materials online (like here at

PT Money) which can help women boost their financial knowledge to the next level.

• Take advantage of workplace retirement guidance.• Many employers offer on-site financial workshops and guidance, yet the

study shows that 65% of women are not taking advantage of retirement guidance made available to them through their workplace plan provider. Check if your employer offers onsite financial workshops or 1:1 guidance, sign up if available, or contact a financial services provider directly.

• Work with an expert.• A financial professional can be a valuable resource to turn to with questions

and to help build a roadmap for the future. When choosing an adviser, look for a good listener who communicates clearly about fees, professional designations, and investment advice. Interview the adviser before you make a commitment, to make sure you are comfortable and can build strong working relationship.

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