We started Sharesies to create equal opportunities for people to grow their wealth. In the past, people had been priced out, jargoned out and left out of wealth development opportunities. This had resulted in only 18% of Kiwis owning shares (30% in Australia and 50% in the US), with the typical investor in NZ being male, over 60, and living in Auckland. If you Google image search “investor”, you’ll see exactly what an investor used to look like.
Sharesies gives someone with $5 the same investment opportunities as someone with $500,000. We’ve created an inclusive and educational platform that offers over 165 investment options, and the minimum investment is only 1c.
In the recent FMA newsletter, the FMA stated that this Money Week, they are putting their focus on helping women gain more confidence with finance. It’s crucial that women are included in this conversation. We know from research that when it comes to investing, there is a significant gap between men and women—more men feel more confident, more motivated, and more knowledgeable about investing than women.
No matter who you are, we think it’s really important to set yourself up to make the most of the money you get. For women especially, you can start to see the importance of investing when you consider a few key factors:
- Women often live longer.
- Women are typically not paid as much.
- Women are more likely to take a career break (which adds to the gender wage and the retirement savings gap).
All of this means that the money that women make needs to stretch further.
The good news is that women are great investors! They’re more likely to take a ‘buy and hold’ approach to investing. And because of this, are less likely to try ‘time the market.’ This means being less likely to buy when prices are high or sell (in a panic) when things start to drop. This is a strategy that has proven to be very reliable over time — particularly for those who don’t want to spend all day worrying about the ups and downs of the market.
At Sharesies, we think it’s really important for women to be involved with their money. We’re stoked we’ve created a platform that is gender-neutral. We’re doing as much as we can to educate and break down the stereotype of what an investor is, and the barriers that people face with being able to develop their wealth.
As an industry, it would be great if we did more to close the gender investment gap and create equal opportunities for all!
