The entry barriers are still too high

Discussion. Women are more likely to believe that they can only invest in alternative forms of investment as an expert. Basic knowledge is sufficient to start with long-term investments.

In the second round of talks on the occasion of the “press” initiative “fPlus – Women and Finances”, the focus was on the topic of “Don’t be afraid of securities”. As in the first round, Eva Komarek, General Editor for Trend Topics (Styria), led the discussion and this time welcomed Larissa Kravitz, financial expert and founder of Investorella, the portal for financial education for women, Andrea Lang, Head of Marketing and Sales and company spokeswoman for the Austrian Mint, Tamara Albrecht, independent management consultant, lecturer and trainer at the Vienna Stock Exchange Academy with a focus on capital markets, and last, but not least, Robert Ulm, CEO of Hello bank!

The participants in the round table report that the initiatives to turn women into responsible investors are slowly taking hold. Tamara Albrecht started. She has more than 20 years of professional experience in the capital market. “More and more women are realizing that with the classic savings account they not only have no asset growth due to zero interest rates, but have to accept a real loss in value.” This knowledge is the first step towards investing in other asset classes. In her workshops, Albrecht advises women of all ages, from students to retirees. “In all of them, I have to take the fear of investing first.” Many women believe that they have to be experts in order to invest in alternative forms of investment outside of the savings account. Fears of contact are particularly great when it comes to stocks and bonds. “You learned the basics relatively quickly and you can start right away,” said Albrecht.

Especially if you don’t want to gamble, but are interested in long-term investments, basic knowledge is enough to get started. Robert Ulm also observes a certain hesitation in women. “There is an iron rule: Greed and fear are bad advisors in the financial market. While greed is more the problem with men, fear is the problem with women. ”Nevertheless, he is pleased that more and more women are banking on Hello! discover for yourself.

“If you understand two asset classes halfway, stocks and bonds, then theoretically you can get started.”

Tamara Albrecht, management consultant

Reluctance of women

Overall, however, the average for women is still shamefully low. “We’re talking about an increase of five to ten percent. That is still far too little. ”Ulm does not understand this hesitation of women, because there are seldom areas in which the genders are more equal. “Women are not disadvantaged in the stock market compared to men. The opportunities and risks are the same for both. “

Once you feel comfortable in the stock market, you can’t be nervous about falling prices. History demonstrates that prices recover faster and faster after crashes. To get this security, you need financial knowledge. You can often get the basics for free and in some cases very well prepared via a wide variety of channels, from the “press” to the Hello bank! Academy. “The most important thing to get started is to deal with the tools that you need to create,” said Ulm. “Many tools are not self-explanatory and require that you deal with them.”

Larissa Kravitz described that women want personal advice in order to be safer with the stumbling blocks. Even the seasoned industry insider is surprised at the stumbling blocks that come to light. “A typical stumbling block is the brokers’ risk classification,” said Kravitz. “Women who go public for retirement reasons primarily want security. She is constantly plagued by the fear of whether the level of security is really high enough. ”Here, too, reassurance is needed. “Those who invest long-term do not have to check the stock market prices every day,” says Kravitz.

When investing, another phenomenon sometimes emerges that gives Kravitz a headache: “I perceive a certain herd instinct in women. My concern is that the investors only pay attention to what other traders are doing and forget about decisive factors such as diversification. ”Ulm reassured that the herd instinct is much more pronounced among men. “If your neighbor has bitcoins and brags about them, then you buy something, regardless of whether you know your way around or not. I don’t see this problem with female investors. ”On the contrary: women are extremely perfectionist and cautious. When comparing products, women often turn it into a science. “The risk of getting lost is high,” said Albrecht.

Women gamble less

The Austrian Mint knows from customer surveys: “Women are very well informed. When you start an investment, it’s very structured, ”said Andrea Lang. “In addition, studies show that women do not invest emotionally. Unlike men, women make decisions about facts. You pay attention to performance and key figures. Men like to be guided emotionally. ”Lang compared it to buying a car – while for men the brand, sleekness and horsepower are decisive factors in buying, for women the focus is on the consumption figures.

“This also brings greater openness to sustainable funds. For men, the motto is: ‘going for money’, regardless of which fund, the main thing is good performance. Women want their money to be used for good and that is why green funds, among other things, are booming, ”said Ulm. Young clientele tick here in a similar way to women. “They even accept lower returns if sustainability criteria are met.” It is not without reason that ESG portals spring up one after the other. Here the experts advise you to take a close look at which portals you are entrusting yourself with. Kravitz also expressed concern about bubbles if too much investment is made in special sustainability funds. “Even if the topic of sustainability is guaranteed to be with us for decades to come, sustainability bubbles can occur at short notice, and that’s why the motto here should be to position yourself broadly.” Young investors in particular tend to make one-sided investments in future topics. If bubbles burst, this could scare off neo-investors.

The recommendations for an investment that is safe, sustainable and at the same time entertaining: 15–20 percent in future topics such as clean energy, cyber security, etc., part in corporate bonds. Anyone who is a little more familiar with the subject can invest up to ten percent in systems that are fun. This includes, for example, crowdfunding projects and cryptocurrency.

“Women and young investors want to invest in sustainable funds and give something back to society and the environment.”

Robert Ulm, Hello bank!

Caution versus risk

The Hello bank! took a look at what investment behavior looks like between the sexes and generations in a study. The result: men are more stock-heavy and trading activity is three times that of women. “The study also clearly shows that more and more young people, regardless of gender, are interested in alternative forms of investment,” said Ulm. In the pandemic, the next generation acquired a surprising amount of financial knowledge. With all the praise, there is a risk that the youth will follow hypes and underestimate the risks. For example, a lot of young people jump on the cryptocurrency boom without questioning the investments.

Caution when investing is therefore a good strategy. According to statistics, women are more successful in the stock market than their male counterparts. Ulm described it very boldly: “Women are more intensive in terms of advice, while men are risk-resistant.” This goes back to the old distribution of roles. “The woman was always responsible for the safety of the children while the man went to war. These roles are still within us and cannot be easily shaken off. “

Women need practice

Men tend to learn by doing. It is therefore recommended that interested women attend investment workshops. The offer is getting bigger and bigger. Here the participants learn which indicators to look out for. With practice comes security. There is no ideal time to invest.

Larissa Kravitz’s report was frightening. According to this, it takes around a year for women to actually start trading when they open a custody account. Kravitz sees a way out in peer groups. “The exchange between women is important. Because despite all the great financial education initiatives, they will never reach everyone. It is therefore important that women start discussing money and investment. ”In other words, it has to be cool to talk about investing. The more entertaining, the better the effect.

More on this: www.hellobank.at & www.muenzeoesterreich.at