The Rise of the Female Trader

When it comes to the geography of female investors and traders in the US, more than a quarter (28.20%) are situated in the Southeast of the US. This is somewhat surprising given that this region does not include cities with influential financial markets like New York or Chicago.

However, it’s no surprise to find that the Northeast of America boasts the second-highest concentration of female traders in the US. Almost a quarter (23.90%) of women surveyed lived here, which does include the prominent financial district of New York, as well as the political capital of Washington D.C.

The majority of women prefer to trade AND invest

In terms of the attitudes of females towards the financial markets, most women surveyed opt to day trade financial instruments and invest in assets for the long term.

More than three-fifths (61%) of women surveyed said they trade in and out of the markets frequently, while simultaneously making long-term investments in instruments like mutual funds and government or corporate bonds.

Equities are the most popular products traded by women

Stocks and shares are easily the most popular financial instruments that women like to trade. More than three-quarters (78%) of females surveyed said equities were their favored products to buy and sell. This was considerably higher than the second most popular asset group, mutual funds (45%).

The older female traders focus on ESG

When it comes to the specific assets that women prefer to trade or invest in on the Saxo investment platforms, there is a sizeable difference in focus, depending on the average age of female traders.

Female traders aged 21 to 50 listed Apple Inc. as their preferred equity to trade or invest in. This may be due to Apple being one of the most popular consumer brands among the Generation Z, Millennial and Generation X demographics. Apple Inc. gets some of the biggest airtime when it comes to news channels and financial analysts.

While Apple has long been the world’s most valuable company, oil giant Saudi Aramco took this title back in May 2022.

The average female trader aged 18-20 in the US appears to prefer investing in the iShares Edge MSCI World Momentum Factor UCITS ETF. This fund focuses largely on equities recently experiencing upward price trends, suggesting that younger traders and investors are still motivated by going for ‘growth’ to multiply their portfolios.

The average female trader aged 51-60 noted Vestas Wind Systems A/S as its most popular instrument to invest in. This Danish wind turbine firm is a global partner in sustainable energy solutions, suggesting that older investors believe that green stocks and markets hold the key to future prosperity.

Also, the MSCI EMU ESG Enhanced UCITS ETF is preferred by female traders aged 61-70. From an ESG perspective, this fund contains some of the most sustainable equities, demonstrating that as women grow older, climate and sustainability become more important.

What are the main barriers to women investing or trading?

What is stopping brokerages like Saxo from having more than 22.9% of new female client accounts? According to the survey, the barriers to female engagement in the financial markets can be drilled down to four key areas:

• Lack of funds (49.89%)

  Almost half of all female traders surveyed believed other women decided against trading or investing due to a lack of ring-fenced capital to get started.
   

• Lack of knowledge (49.79%)

  A similar number of female traders believe a knowledge gap is holding women back from trading or investing in the financial markets.
   

• Lack of experience (42.78%)

  A lack of experience in the world of finance is also said to be the third-most common reason for women overlooking trading or investing for their futures.
   

• Lack of time (29.83%)

  Almost a third of female traders surveyed also said that many women don’t think they have the time to dedicate to such an undertaking.

Environmental & social impact on investing

We’ve already mentioned that older female traders are typically more empowered to invest in greener equities and funds, but it appears a broader spectrum does care about the impact of their investments on wider society.

71% of all female traders surveyed said they either agree or strongly agree with the following statement: “In addition to financial returns, I also care about how my investments impact society or the environment”. Just 5% said they disagreed or strongly disagreed with the above statement.

In summary

It’s clear that women who are active in the financial markets take a broad-based approach to short-term and long-term trading and investing. Very few specialize solely in day trading, while a third (33%) focus exclusively on investing for long-term growth, be it a rainy-day fund or a private pension.

More than a third (36%) of women find it easier to invest for a longer period than actively trading the markets in a single day. A fifth (21%) also believe trading to be more complex than investing, with only 6% of female traders finding trading less complicated than investing.

Methodology

With a growing number of female client accounts at Saxo, this survey was commissioned to understand the psyche of female traders and the types of financial instruments they tend to focus their attention on.

With 1,000 female traders surveyed across the US, this provides an accurate snapshot of the current landscape for women in the financial markets in 2022.

For popular stocks and ETFs traded by age groups, Saxo used their own trading data from 2022.