If women invested at the same rate as men, there would be an extra $3.22 trillion in assets under management from private individuals, according to a report by DWS, a money manager in Frankfurt, Germany, and in this case referencing a data point from BNY.
The report analyzed how asset managers can support female investment trends. One way is increasing the proportion of financial advisers that are women, with research from consultant McKinsey and the University of Mannheim in Germany showing that more than two-thirds of women prefer to speak to a female financial adviser. However, in many countries, including the U.S., Germany, and the U.K., no more than 20% of financial advisers are women.
According to consultancy firm Oliver Wyman, there is at least a $700 billion global revenue opportunity for the financial services industry in better serving women as customers, including $25 billion in new fees for wealth and asset managers that could come from helping women manage their investments in the same way they do for men.
In Europe, women invest an average of 29% less than their male counterparts, according to research cited from German bank N26. In Spain, women allocate 15% less of their monthly income toward investments than their male counterparts do. The largest gaps exist in Germany and France, where men invest 43% more of their monthly income than women.
The research from N26 indicated that a lack of money was noted as the biggest obstacle among investors (45%). This may indicate larger, systemic challenges, such as pay disparities or the disproportionate financial burden of caring for young children faced by women today, DWS said in its report.
There were some positive developments for women noted in the report, such as more women than men are now receiving tertiary education in both the U.S. and Europe. Yet, Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum and Council on Foreign Relations data in the report also showed that as of August, only 13% of the world’s political leaders and 16% of the world’s 185 central bank governors were women.
The report was authored by Maria Milina, a research analyst at DWS, and Michael Lewis, head of ESG research at the firm.
DWS Group had €933 billion ($999 billion) of assets under management as of June 30.
