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Aussie women leading men on investment experience

A female investor sitting at her desk at home with stocks graphs on her laptop.
A new survey shows women are more experienced investors than men. (Source: Getty) (Prasit photo via Getty Images)

Women are leading the way in investment experience, according to new insights from leading share-trading platform Superhero.

More than 3,700 Australian customers were surveyed by the platform on their investment habits and preferences, with the results finding a quarter (26 per cent) of women had been investing for more than five years – compared to just 15 per cent of men.

Yahoo Finance caught up with Superhero CEO John Winters to get his thoughts.

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“It was very interesting to see that the majority of our long-term investors were women," Winters said.

"We’re proud to have such an experienced, informed customer base.”

These women are also investing significant sums of money, with more than 20 per cent of respondents indicating they are looking to invest more than $20,000 in the coming 12 months.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is older women who are looking to invest the most, with 38 per cent of women over 55 revealing their portfolio plans exceed the $20,000 mark for 2022.

Younger investor numbers rising

It's not just women who are making waves in the investment market. The survey goes on to highlight a clear rise in younger Australian investors, with 35 per cent of 18-24-year-old respondents entering the market in the past six months.

This may well be another sign that confidence is returning to the market after the turmoil of the COVID pandemic, with younger people looking at supplementing their incomes via a progressive investment portfolio.

Young male investor showing smart phone screen with stock market investment app
An increasing number of 18-24-year-olds are entering the investment market. (Source: Getty) (Xavier Lorenzo via Getty Images)

When asked why they started investing, more than 50 per cent of respondents highlighted the desire to supplement their income with investment returns.

Other reasons given included diversifying assets (18 per cent), building a nest egg (14 per cent) and saving for a property deposit (7 per cent).

“Investing as a concept has grown tremendously in popularity over the last year or so, which was made clear by 35 per cent of respondents noting they’d only started investing in the last six months," Winter said.

"We’re expecting this trend to continue as, not only Superhero grows, but also as interest in investing continues to gain momentum.”

Longer-term view prevails

Despite a significant proportion of those surveyed being new to investing, most seem to be taking a longer-term view.

When asked how they’d feel if they checked their investments after a year and found they had fallen by 20 per cent, more than half (53 per cent) of respondents said they would be patient and stay the course.

A further 31 per cent showed even more confidence in the market, saying they’d consider increasing their investment by “buying into the dip” in these circumstances.

Superhero’s Winter was reassured by this attitude from his customer base, commenting that “this resounding confidence in the market comes from the fact that our customers typically educate themselves on the assets they purchase, from listening to podcasts to reading the news."

It’s refreshing to hear such positivity in investment circles again, and the fact women and younger Australians are leading the way in this return to market confidence is equally encouraging.

As Australia’s economy continues to recover from the ravages of the pandemic, a key driver of the return to growth will be how retail investors view the climate for investing.

Given the information above, it appears the appetite for personal investment is returning, and this attitude is shared across a broad cross-section of Australians.

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