'Long way to go': Women investors on the rise but still lag by a wide margin

On the occasion of Women’s Day, an analysis has once again highlighted the fact that women investors form a minority though their number is definitely on the rise.

An analysis by digital wealth management firm Kuvera found that women constitute just 26 per cent of its 16 lakh clients though the number has increased from 19 per cent last year in March.

According to the fintech platform, various financial literacy activities undertaken by industry participants are showing results.

“We have seen a marginal improvement from last year (around 19% in 2022). While this demonstrates a growing awareness of financial planning among women, we clearly have a long way to go to achieve investing equality,” said Gaurav Rastogi, Founder and CEO, Kuvera.

Incidentally, the digital platform analysed its investor data to understand the investing behaviour of Indian women and found that retirement, buying a home, and educating a child were the top financial goals of women.

Women investors from the National Capital Region, Bengaluru, and Mumbai made up 30 per cent of all women investors in the country, indicating better financial literacy among women in metro cities.  

However, around six in 10 women investors were from Tier 1/2 locations, indicating that financial literacy among women is not limited just to the top-tier towns.

The analysis further found that both men and women investors got a little younger this year than the last year's study as the median age of women investors is now 33 (versus 34 in 2022), an indication of a large number of younger women taking control of their finances.  

The higher median age of women investors, however, shows that they are likely to begin investing later in life than men.  

Insights from gender-wise portfolio analysis revealed that on average, women had a 20 per cent smaller portfolio than their male counterparts.

“The higher median age among women, coupled with 20% smaller average portfolio size makes it clear that gender wage difference is real, and it takes longer for women to reach an age when they start feeling in charge of their finances,” said Rastogi.  

Meanwhile, tax-saving funds continue to be a favourite among women as the share of women investing in these funds has shown a consistent and significant rise over the years - from 23 per cent in FY20 to 29 per cent in FY23.  

India, which is currently the fifth-largest economy, is set to become the third-largest by 2035. 

The share of people investing in the markets, however, is just about three per cent, compared to over 55 per cent in the US, 33 per cent in UK and 13 per cent in China.  

“Greater market participation from citizens will make our financial markets stronger, drive businesses and the GDP. And women will play a massive role in driving this shift to propel India's economic transformation,” said Rastogi.

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