Just 23 percent of working women claim that they take their own investment decisions. And when it comes to single working women, the figure is even lower at 18 percent, says a recent study of DSP BlackRock conducted by global research agency Nielsen. The study claims 77 percent of working women depend on their spouse or parents for their investment decisions.
The study is based on a pan-India survey of more than 4,750 women spread across 14 cities (6 metro cities and 8 non-metro cities) to understand the usage and attitudes of women towards financial products. The survey covered working and non-working women between 21 – 60 years of age, and included divorcees and widows.The study also examined factors that facilitate or impede their investment decisions.
According to the survey, while 92% of working women claim to be involved in the investment decision-making process, 70% of these women are actually joint decision makers and a majority of these, at 52%, are only informed about the investment decisions which have already been made.
The main reason why women don’t take investment decisions is that they are safety oriented and reluctant to take risk, the survey notes. Husbands also seem to dominate the investment decision making among working as well as non-working women.
The survey also observes that the proportion of sole decision makers among working as well as non-working women is significantly higher among the divorced and widowed.
While analysing women’s main reasons to invest, the survey found that future security and child’s education form the key reasons for investments, especially amongst women in non-metros. In metros, women are more inclined towards investing with a desire to become rich. Tax does not feature as a primary reason for investments.
Women are inclined towards safety while investing and hence put more money in instruments that yield fixed returns. Most of the surveyed women also feel that they are controlled and disciplined about their spending.
Aditi Kothari, Executive Vice President and Co- Head Marketing, DSP BlackRock Investment Managers Pvt Ltd said, “This research was part of our Winvestor initiative to gather crucial data that can be used to spread awareness regarding financial independence amongst women. We hope that this study is an eye opener to the alarming lack of women’s involvement in making their own investment decisions; and motivates them to take more interest in managing their own money.”
‘Winvestor’ is an Investor Education Initiative by DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund that aims to encourage women to start taking well informed financial decisions on their own by encouraging them to meet an advisor and to get interested in their personal finances.
