Originally written to mark International Women’s Day #ChooseToChallenge. 

Taking a closer look at an area in which women are underrepresented, we’re shining the spotlight on the space that currently lies between genders in the world of investment – The Gender Investment Gap. This refers to fewer female investors and the discrepancy between the amount of money that women receive back on their investments in comparison to men in their lifetime. 

‘Research firm Kantar (2018) suggest that the value of investments held by women aged between 21 and 53 is just half that of men in the same age group.’ – Natwest

Not only does this mean that women who aren’t investing are losing out on the investment opportunities, but that investment providers are losing out on female investments. It was reported in 2018 that, ‘the real cost of the investing gap over a 35-year career span could be more than $1 million’ in comparison to their male counterparts. The gender wage gap does contribute to this, with women (generally speaking) earning less and therefore having less to invest.  

This year’s International Women’s day theme is #ChooseToChallenge, calling individuals to choose to challenge inequality. This is exactly what some businesses are doing, they have spotted this inequality and are aiming their investment opportunities primarily or heavily at women, opening up the world of investment and beginning to close this gap. As technology is increasingly built with women in mind, we can see that the investment gap is closing and that in fact, when women do invest, they can achieve better results. According to a Warwick School of Business survey, female investors did better than their male counterparts by 1.2 % each year. 

We look at the most notable apps and tools currently out on the market, helping to close the gap further. 

Ellevest

This is possibly the most prominent investment app aimed solely at women.

‘Ellevest was built by women, for women. The financial industry wasn’t.’

This platform offers a modern and engaging experience, helping women to meet their financial goals, taking into consideration the often different investing approaches of men and women. Memberships offer women access to investing, banking, learning, and coaching.  Quite uniquely, they use their proprietary algorithm factoring in women’s pay gaps, career breaks, and longer lifespans. Their understanding of these differences in lifecycle, needs and approach is at the heart of the brand and the reason for their, as of 2020, 90,000 member base. 

With the option to get started for just $1 a month, this is an accessible and supportive platform. 

Female Founders by The Angel Investment Network

An offshoot of The Angel Investment Network, their Female Founders programme believes ‘that promoting female entrepreneurship is central to economic growth and meaningful innovation.’  Providing their investors with opportunities to support female-founded businesses in the UK through providing funding. If you’re looking for investment opportunities, this could be a great place to start! Take a look at the vast array of incredible businesses you could be supporting here.  

Vestpod

Vestpod is a community that works with women, providing a vault of content to educate and support their journey to a healthy and empowering relationship with their finances. Focused on empowerment through education and investment opportunities, Vestpod is not an investment platform but the place to start your journey so you can go ahead with confidence.

From simply saving more to investing money, opening up the conversation about finances through their community, their podcasts, events and courses, Vestpod are a supportive and practical hub and community who boldly aim to ‘reshape the financial world’.  

Penda App 

With a fantastic and noteworthy niche, Penda is an app with a difference; ‘Australia’s first financial empowerment app for women with a domestic and family violence (DFV) focus.’ They are focused on helping women who navigate and manage finances in preparation for separation and self-security following domestic abuse. Naturally, this app is free to use with national safety, financial and legal information and referrals.

At Chesamel we recognise that Fintech is carving out incredible spaces for women to have a bigger presence in the investment and financial industry. An opportunity for innovative financial service businesses to explore and a growing area for fintech innovation. While we’re heading in the right direction, there are still concerns that the investment gap will grow, with Freetrade claiming that the gender investment gap could be staggering by 2030.  With female-focused initiatives like the ones we’re spotlighting today, and the increase in women working in STEM (Science, technology, engineering and maths), this year topping the 1 million mark, we can see that innovation in this sector plays a huge role and is set to continue to thrive. 

Happy International Women’s Day. 

Emma Cofie – COO, Chesamel