Do you remember Nike’s ‘run like a girl’ campaign? The power in that campaign for me, was when the teenage girls were asked if they’d like to have another go at ‘running like a girl’ after being shown how purposefully and seriously young girls ran. Before they received the negative messaging of what to ‘run like a girl’ meant.
It was simple. Powerful. And as an ex-financial advisor and now financial educator who has worked with tens of thousands of women over my career, I would love to see a similar campaign directed at women and investing.
That’s because if you were to ask people what it meant to ‘invest like a woman’, 93 per cent would answer that it would mean to invest worse than a man, according to a Fidelity study. To be second rate or even poor when it comes to investing.
And we’ve absorbed that message without even realising it.
After all, if we think about how women are portrayed when it comes to fictional characters in TV, books and magazines, usually it’s as spendthrifts who are financially reckless or uninvolved with their financial future.
It’s so easy to think of an abundance of these characters. In some instances, there have been whole movies and TV shows based on those tropes.
I challenge you to name five fictional women who are wealthy in their own right – not from an inheritance, family money or their husband’s money. Bonus points if-they have a family. I haven’t met anyone who can easily name more than one or two.
Yet it might surprise you to know, that more of us should in fact be investing like a woman. Because the data says we’re better at it.
Multiple longitudinal studies have proven that women are better investors than men. Fidelity has that figure at 0.4 per cent while Warwick Business School has it at 1.8 per cent better.
The reason women consistently outperform the blokes, according to the research, is because we invest smaller amounts regularly, often into broad based Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) or Index Funds.
Men, by contrast, traded more frequently, incurring higher fees and missing out on compounding gains.
In fact, a 2024 University of Essex study found that men’s investment decisions were directly influenced by negative headlines. Suggesting when it comes investing, it’s not women who are the more emotional investor, it’s men.
Yet too few of us are behaving like this is true.
Yes, we are involved with household finances. 90 per cent of women in a heterosexual relationship manage the day-to-day spending. Yet less than half of us are involved with the long-term investing decisions.
Primarily because we believe that our partner knows more than we do. But confidence doesn’t equal competence. Yes your partner might trade more and talk about investing more. But the data proves that doesn’t make them a better investor.
In actuality, it’s a woman’s lack of confidence when it comes to investing that’s her superpower.
Somehow along the way, we’ve been sold the lie that investing is complex and difficult. When the truth is, you can invest in one broad-based ETF, on one platform, with one small regular amount and never think about it again.
For example, $250 invested monthly into a broad-based Australian ETF for 30 years would grow to almost half a million dollars (based on Vanguard’s 30 year index return).
That’s what it means to invest like a girl. Or a woman.
And before you stop reading because you think you don’t have 30 years left to invest. Let me say that men don’t think that. I know because I’ve asked many financial advisers directly whether their male clients ever say they don’t have enough time. Every single one looked at me like I was mad. Yet if I use a 30-year time frame, women aged in their 30s, 40s and 50s will all DM me and tell me they don’t have 30 years.
Only you do. Not from working harder. Or longer. But understanding how to find more cash. Because if you can do that, you can keep investing regardless of your circumstance. For example I have women in my community doing surveys, delivery driving, selling clothes, dog walking, house sitting and more to find more cash. That’s what gives you agency and choice to keep going. NO matter your circumstance.
It’s time to apply the power of that Nike messaging to our finances. When it comes to investing, it’s understanding it’s not that complex. You just need to start. One ETF, one platform, one small regular amount. Because, to borrow from another famous campaign, you’re worth it.