# Are women better investors than men?



## SM Junkie (30 June 2008)

I could not resist this opportunity to stir the pot.

An article in Sundays paper by "the Barefoot Investor" claims that women are better investors then Men?

Why:


Digital Look surveyed 100,000 portfolios in Britan in 2005 and found that female investors returned an average of 17% compared with just 11% for men.
Men act with more bravado and confidence.  This makes them more inclined to trade and consequently generally achieve lower returns.
Women have a lack of ego and therefore are happy to admit they don't have a clue about investing which gives them the freedom to ask all manner of questions.
Women tend to be more conservative.

No doubt about it women are certainly more financially independent, are marrying later and therefore are starting to accumulate wealth through property, shares and other investments.

Times are changing.

So what do you all think? 
Are the women going to take over in the financial race to wealth creation?
Is this an attractive attribute for a women to have her head around savings and investments?


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## agro (30 June 2008)

they like to think so  j/k, men are given an edge as far as having testosterone which makes them more risk taking and aggressive in picking and buying stocks..

women on the other hand, cautious and not as hasty or impulsive..


both have their pros/cons


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## gfresh (30 June 2008)

I would have thought the total opposite. In fact, if women were discovered to be the best investors, I would have thought they would be filling the trading rooms of the world right now. In fact, it's the total opposite. 

Maybe the stats found less female investors, and those that are continuing to do so, will probably be an exception and excel. Whereas the males may have a higher share of wealth to invest, and therefore more attempting to invest, averaging out to a lower success rate. 

I'll play the sexist bastard here  by being inclined to think women would be more emotional over decisions, react irrationally under pressure, and act too passively -- all of which would probably be detrimental to many forms of investment. However for some forms of investment, maybe these traits could be beneficial. 

Of course that is a sweeping generalisation, you've got poor male investors and poor female ones.


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## disarray (30 June 2008)

SM Junkie said:


> Women have a lack of ego




lol



> Are the women going to take over in the financial race to wealth creation?




no. wealth creation requires risk and men are more inclined towards risk taking behaviour.



> Is this an attractive attribute for a women to have her head around savings and investments?




for sure. smart, self-reliant women are sexy.


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## juw177 (30 June 2008)

I know one female trader, and she is a lesbian.


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## nomore4s (30 June 2008)

juw177 said:


> I know one female trader, and she is a lesbian.






What does that have to do with anything?


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## Trembling Hand (30 June 2008)

juw177 said:


> I know one female trader, and she is a lesbian.




Good for you!!


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## ithatheekret (30 June 2008)

I think many would be suprised at how analytical women can be .

A team effort would be the best outcome with regards to wealth creation mainly on as Agro states wisely I must say ,   " women on the other hand, cautious and not as hasty or impulsive ".

Again as Agro stated , " both have their pros/cons " , but if we look back through the ages , it has been women who were sort for their advice and predictions , these were the oracles . The Romans consulted female oracles for example , one I think it was a Delphic oracle , predicted many many things well ahead of her time , much like Nostradamus .

I have worked with many top shelf females and they were a pleasure to work with , usually helping with the tasks loads and giving that little prodding that gets a chap back to it . They can put many a male to shame with their never ending energy and patience for long drawn out motions , one has to go through to get reports and assessments done . They are generally highly motivated and take pride in their job , but matched with a males passion and stoic resolve , a team of the best of the pairs would leave many in their wake . So I'd go for a 50 / 50 team effort as long as no sexual overtones were displayed , as this would take their eyes off the ball , ahem , excuse the pun .


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## Julia (30 June 2008)

I'll sit firmly on the fence on this one, largely because I doubt that it's really possible to generalise to any conclusive extent.

Doesn't it depend on personality how one goes about trying to make money?
And that varies from woman to woman as much as women to men.
Just looking at the proportion of women (as far as we can tell) on ASF, women are hugely outnumbered by men.

Personally, my biggest fault in this business is indecisiveness.   I can make the best decision with the info I have at the time, but then regret it when it turns out to be wrong.  Much remorse and self castigation follow!
Don't know that this is necessarily a gender thing though.


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## Agentm (30 June 2008)

women???

hell yeah, they're way better investors..

they can take any deposit they like and turn it into a wonderful and rewarding outcome, in terms of long term, their abilities to take as much of these  deposits again and again turn it the most wonderful experience never fails to amaze me..

this is a joke right?? i mean your seriously not going to say that a women are in any different or more or less capable than men??


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## zolow (30 June 2008)

gfresh said:


> I would have thought the total opposite. In fact, if women were discovered to be the best investors, I would have thought they would be filling the trading rooms of the world right now.




Isn't investing a little different to trading?

Just think on paper here, but did the article say anything about the spread of results (std Dev?). I would guess that men, having a greater risk apetite (in general), would have a bigger spread in returns. Whereas women would probably be more consistent

Also what was the time period over which the returns were calculated? haven't the last few years been exceptionally good for shares? could this just be a statistical anomaly?



juw177 said:


> I know one female trader, and she is a lesbian.




I know the statement is a bit silly, but could be supporting of the fact that men (again due to the risk apetite thing) could be better traders (note: not investors). I read a recent article in Time that mentioned a lesbian brain more resembles that of a straight mans than a straight womans

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1815538,00.html


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## tech/a (30 June 2008)

You bet.

Heather Mills
Anna Nichol Smith

The list goes on.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/most_curious/article1516355.ece


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## Boggo (30 June 2008)

tech/a said:


> You bet.
> 
> Heather Mills




On the subject of Heather Mills (you started it tech/a) 

After  5 years of marriage, Paul McCartney paid her $49 million. Assuming he got  sex  every night during their 5 year relationship (which would NOT have  happened!) it ended up costing him $26,849 per time.  

On the  other hand, Elliot Spitzer's call girl, Kristen, an absolute stunner with  a body like no other, charges $4,000 an hour.

Had Paul  McCartney 'employed' Kristen for 5 years, he would've paid $7.3 million  for an hour of sex every night for 5 years (a saving of $41.7 million).  

Value-added benefits are: a 22 year old hot babe, no begging, no  coaxing, never a headache, plays all requests, ability to put BOTH legs  around you (!!!), no bitching and complaining or 'to do' lists. Best of  all, she leaves and comes back when you ask her. All at  1/7th the cost, with no legal fees.



Oh, sorry, the answer to the question is *women are* (my wife only agrees with this latter bit)


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## YOUNG_TRADER (30 June 2008)

juw177 said:


> I know one female trader, and she is a lesbian.




I fell off my chair laughing when I read this, I know juw probably meant it seriously but I found it hilarious

I climbed back on my chair and the fell off again after reading Boggo's anaysis of wife vs call girl 



Boggo said:


> On the subject of Heather Mills (you started it tech/a)
> 
> After  5 years of marriage, Paul McCartney paid her $49 million. Assuming he got  sex  every night during their 5 year relationship (which would NOT have  happened!) it ended up costing him $26,849 per time.
> 
> ...




"VALUE ADDED BENEFITS" bwah ha ha ha ha, your a p1sser Boggo


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## IFocus (30 June 2008)

When starting out I was a member of a number of trading groups, the men all ways out numbered the women but consistently the women generally got the best results.

They tested and stuff while the boys being boys just had to fire away and put their money into the market before.........well you know the rest. 


Best trader I know here in WA is a woman and she is also the most aggressive trader I have seen.


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## MichaelD (30 June 2008)

Think about it people.

There are multiple validated studies out there showing without a doubt that women return more $ in their trading accounts than men.

It's a male ego trait to ignore the compelling weight of evidence.

Smart traders would be more interested in knowing what the core characteristic is that makes women more profitable than men and then ensuring this is applied to your own trading.

(Hint: Women trade less than men).


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