'I started in my 20s and made £8,000': Why women are often better investors than men

Breaking news from the markets: 'I started in my 20s and made £8,000': Why women are often better investors than menImage source, Teleri EvansImage caption, Teleri Evans used her investments to put a deposit down on her first homeByWill Smale, Phil Leake and Jess Carr, NewsPublished30 minutes agoWomen who invest their money get slightly higher long-term returns than men, new analysis suggests. But only about a quarter of UK women have investments, compared with about 40% of men, a separate report shows. We've looked at the data behind these trends, which reveal some surprising differences in how men and women approach investing.

Teleri Evans was 25 when she began saving into a Help To Buy ISA then a couple of years later she took out a stocks and shares Lifetime ISA. By 33, she had £40,000 saved - with £8,000 of it returns on her investments. "I saved aggressively, and lived at my mum's for half of that time, so I could save as close as possible to the maximum £4,000 per year into Lifetime ISA," she says.

Economic Details

The civil servant from Cardiff used the money towards a house deposit earlier this year with her partner. Only 26% of UK women invest, but that this falls to 23% for those under 45, according to a study by consumer finance website Boring Money. In contrast, 41% of all men invest, which holds steady at 40% of those under 45.

So why are fewer women investing than men? It can be "largely attributed to culture", according to Gillian Fleming, co-founder and managing director of UK-based Mint Ventures, a women-led angel investment firm. "Men historically have been more likely to make family investment decisions, and women have also historically not owned the balance of wealth, but that is changing now," she says.

"Also, money and wealth creation is not a topic that women often discuss, and we would like to change that. "Teleri says she has noticed a shift of late. "Investing is definitely something that women are talking about more, which is always a good thing," she says.

Analyst Views

"That's the case with my friendship group. "When women do invest in stocks and shares, analysis by Fidelity International found that over three years its female personal investing customers recorded cumulative returns of 50%, compared with 47% for men. The analysis does not identify the reason for the difference, but why may it be the case?

One possible clue to women's slightly higher long-term returns lies in how often they buy and sell their investments, with Barclays data showing that women trade around half as frequently as men. This could be because women are more patient and risk averse, says Joanna Floyd, business psychologist at London-based The Work Psychologists. "Studies show that male investors trade more than women, chasing higher returns, but women actually get higher returns," she says.

"The restraint that keeps women out of the market in the first place is the very same thing that rewards them once they are in it.

Economists are analysing what the news means for the markets.