NEW DELHI: Nearly two of three men (65%) take investment decisions independently, but only 44% of women do the same, according to findings of the DSP Winvestor Pulse 2022 Study. DSP Mutual Fund unveiled the findings of the Survey, conducted in association with research agency YouGov, highlighting investment behaviour among men and women and differences in their attitudes and involvement while making investment decisions.
The study found that a much higher proportion of men (40%) as compared to women (27%) take entirely independent investment decisions (without consulting a professional advisor). Among those who take investment decisions along with someone else, women (67%) claimed to consult their spouse much more than men (48%) do. than double the proportion of men (26%) said that they consulted their father for making investment decisions than women (10%).
The survey also uncovered that husbands (21%) play a bigger role in introducing women to investing than their fathers (12%). Also, men claimed to be self-taught investors, and a larger percentage of men claimed they were introduced to investments by their father (15% for men vs 12% for women), friends & social circle (18% for men & 11% for women).
Among survey respondents, 32% women consulted a professional financial advisor, 36% men did so. Most men (79%) and women (78%) said they were gender neutral when it came to considering financial advisors, while the second largest preference was for male advisors among both men (15%) and women (13%). Female financial advisors were slightly more preferred by women (8%) than men (6%).
Aditi Kothari Desai, vice chairperson, DSP Investment Managers, said, “… A telling aspect of the survey for me was that women are introduced by, as well as guided on investments more by their husbands, not by their fathers. I would appeal to parents in general and fathers specifically so, to open conversations on money & investing with their daughters at an early age. This will lead the next generation to be smarter with their investing decisions. In addition, I believe that the right professional investment advice will make a big difference in enabling women to take control of their destiny. This is where our MFDs and advisor-partners will continue to play a key role going forward.”
An interesting aspect of the survey was that a vast majority (nearly 70% of both male and female respondents) said they advise/ or would advise their son and daughter differently about investing. In fact, 41% of parents said their own investment strategy will differ depending on their child’s gender.
An encouraging observation was that nearly half (45%) of men and women surveyed said they were investing more post pandemic. The pandemic induced introspection about money, wanting higher returns than earlier and ease of investing via apps were cited by both men & women as top reasons to invest more post Covid. Among those who said that they were investing less post COVID, both men and women cite reduced income and wanting to take lesser risk as top reasons. However, more men (28%) than women (22%) cite loss of job / shutting of business as a reason to invest lesser.
The study found that the top investment goals for men and women are largely similar: To improve standard of living, save enough for retirement, and provide for child’s education. However, more women (45%) listed providing for child’s education as one of their top goals than men (40%). men expressed having enough to live debt-free (38% for men & 33% for women) and starting their own venture (26% for men & 23% for women) as top goals.
DSP Winvestor Pulse 2022 was conducted as part of DSP Mutual Fund’s Winvestor initiative, a programme to encourage women to take charge of their investment decisions and to instill confidence in them, so they don’t depend on someone else to control their finances. DSP encourages women to take charge and own their money by seeking advice only from qualified financial experts.
The survey covered 4,625 women and men across 10 cities (4 metros: Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, and 6 mini-metros: Indore, Kochi, Patna, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Amritsar). The study captures responses from men and women who have been involved in investment decision-making from the age group 25 – 60. Fieldwork for the survey was done from October to November 2022. The participants include those who are currently working or have worked for at least 2 years in the past, whether they were single, married without kids or married with kids.
Kalpen Parekh, MD & CEO, DSP Investment Managers, said, “At DSP, we believe in evidence-based insights and applying them to the initiatives that we undertake. The insights on investor behaviour and attitudes from the survey can also help us better decode investor needs and design our conversation and investor journeys to guide them to meet their goals. We are keen to be valuable to women investors as well as we realize they need to have an independent understanding of their finances and investing for the same. We will leverage these insights and aim to build a tribe of women investors. We will also share these insights with our MFDs to help them understand and enable better client experiences.”