The Financial Power Of Your Femininity

“Invest like a woman. Because money is power.” These words appear on the website for Ellevest, a revolutionary new digital investing platform for women co-founded by powerhouse businesswoman Sallie Krawcheck. It is a call to arms for women everywhere to capitalise on their own power and femininity by monetising it. Krawcheck conquered Wall St in the US, climbing to the top of the wealth management industry before pivoting to address a gender gap she believes affects women more than any other: the investment pay gap. The world over, fewer women invest than men, particularly when it comes to playing the stock market. That’s likely caused by a complex matrix of factors: being paid less for the same work, grappling with entrenched gender stereotypes, bearing the brunt of domestic work and childcare, accruing an alarming shortage of retirement funds compared to men and trying to succeed in an industry very much still dominated by men.

“The gender gap in investing exists because of a lack of exposure, access and confidence. Despite all the information that’s available around investing, this is still a man’s world,” says Zaneilia Harris, author and president of Harris & Harris Wealth Management. “According to a recent article by Glamour magazine, revealing the deep dark side money secrets of 1,000 women, 85 per cent of women don’t invest in stocks and 56 per cent say they don’t have a 401 [retirement savings plan].”

“Studies show that women tend to be patient, rather than impulsive. Realistic, rather than overconfident. Prudent, rather than reckless,” says LouAnn Lofton, journalist and author of Warren Buffet Invests Like a Girl and You Should Too. “Women tend to think longer term, take much less risk, and just generally view investing less as a game or a competition than men do. Women do more research, ask more questions, trade less – men trade 45 per cent more than women, according to one study, and single men trade 67 per cent more – and women don’t tend to look at investing as some macho score-keeping system.”

Women are gaining confidence and traction in the investment world but that’s not all. They are also supporting one another, creating a sisterhood to rival the traditional boys’ club and investing in businesses led by other women. The more female investors, the more support for female-led businesses. Rather than adopt traditionally masculine traits, women are learning to use archetypical feminine ones to their advantage – like empathy, vulnerability, patience and emotional intelligence (EI). Which is smart, given these are increasingly in-demand as business values as well as personality traits.