November 11, 2009
--- Women feel less confident than men in their investment knowledge—but
the financial crisis has motivated some to seek out more information,
according to a Scottrade poll. ---
The poll found the majority of women investors (59%) consider themselves at a “beginner” skill level, compared to 35% of men. Most men (56%) describe themselves as “intermediate.” Women also struggle more with understanding investing terminology, as 29 % of women reported this to be a challenging aspect of investing compared to 7% of men.
The recent economic downturn apparently made quite an impact on many female investors, with 32% of women saying they’ve gained a new understanding of their financial picture in the last year compared to 24% of men, the Scottrade poll found. Twenty-two percent of women said they’ve worked hard in the last year to learn more about the economy, while 15% of men said they did the same.
“It’s great to see that women have the same investing goals and are taking the same proactive steps as men,” said Chris Moloney, Scottrade’s chief marketing officer and executive director of customer intelligence. “It is surprising, though, that women are not as confident as men. This discrepancy in men’s and women’s opinions of their own investing skills is especially notable because it doesn’t reflect the reality of their portfolios’ performance.”