Women investors are more likely than men to hold their nerve during financial turmoil but are less likely than men to invest overall, according to a new study.
The research, for investment provider Alliance Trust, revealed that women were better at holding their investment nerve and less likely to have crystallised a loss when the market dipped.
Almost half of men (48%) have sold investments at a loss when they have gone down in value to try to avoid losing more money but only 38% of women have done the same.
When asked whether they had stopped or reduced their regular investment payments because the markets had dropped, 17% of men had done so entirely compared to just 12% of women.
Survey Questions:
|
Sometimes investments go down in value. When this happens, some people decide to cash in their investments at a loss to avoid losing more money. Have you ever sold an investment at a loss?
|
Â
|
Gender
|
|
|
Total
|
Men
|
Women
|
|
|
Yes, within the last year
|
12%
|
15%
|
6%
|
|
Yes, within the last 1-2 years
|
10%
|
10%
|
9%
|
|
Yes, within the last 3-5 years
|
13%
|
12%
|
14%
|
|
Yes, within the last 6-10 years
|
6%
|
6%
|
4%
|
|
Yes, over 10 years ago
|
5%
|
5%
|
5%
|
|
No
|
51%
|
48%
|
55%
|
|
I don’t know
|
5%
|
4%
|
7%
|
|
NET: Yes
|
45%
|
48%
|
38%
|
Source: Alliance Trust / Opinium
Â
|
Â
|
Portfolio value falls 5%
|
Portfolio value falls 6-10%
|
Portfolio value falls 11-15%
|
Portfolio value falls 16%-20%
|
Portfolio value falls by more than 20%
|
|||||
|
Men
|
Women
|
Men
|
Women
|
Men
|
Women
|
Men
|
Women
|
Men
|
Women
|
|
|
I would stay put / hold
|
69%
|
61%
|
59%
|
52%
|
46%
|
40%
|
37%
|
31%
|
30%
|
27%
|
|
I would sell my investments
|
12%
|
14%
|
12%
|
17%
|
21%
|
19%
|
22%
|
18%
|
21%
|
21%
|
|
I would buy more investments
|
10%
|
12%
|
14%
|
14%
|
16%
|
18%
|
20%
|
21%
|
21%
|
22%
|
|
I would pause regular contributions
|
5%
|
9%
|
10%
|
10%
|
12%
|
13%
|
13%
|
16%
|
14%
|
12%
|
|
Not sure
|
11%
|
15%
|
11%
|
17%
|
12%
|
21%
|
15%
|
26%
|
20%
|
28%
|
Source: Alliance Trust / OpiniumÂ
However, the survey also showed that men have more money invested compared to women and were more likely to invest in the stock market. Some 30% of men in the UK have a stocks & shares ISA compared to just 16% of women.
About 17% of men have a general investment account compared to 10% of women while 19% of men have a SIPP compared to 9% of women. Ownership of cash savings was similar.
Men also have more money invested with more than half of the women who do invest (54%) having less than £20,000 invested, compared to 37% of men.
In contrast, 39% of men have more than £50,000 invested while just 28% of women can say the same.
• Consumer research was conducted by Opinium Research, who surveyed 2,000 UK adults in August. Of these, 730 were investors (defined as having a Stocks & Shares ISA, a general investment account, and/ or a self-invested/ self-managed personal pension).
