December 12, 2022: Nearly 2 out of 3 Men (65%) take Investment decisions largely independently, but only a minority (44%) of women do so, revealed the DSP Winvestor Pulse 2022 Study. DSP Mutual Fund unveiled the findings of the DSP Winvestor Pulse 2022 Survey in association with research agency YouGov, highlighting investment behavior among women and men and the 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. More 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%). On the other hand, most men claimed to be self-taught investors. A larger percentage of men also 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).
From those who responded to the survey, while 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%).
An interesting aspect of the survey was that a vast majority (nearly 70% of both male and female respondents) said they advise/ would advise their son & 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 & women surveyed said they were investing more post Covid. 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%). More 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 program 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.
Aditi Kothari Desai, Vice Chairperson, DSP Investment Managers Pvt Ltd said, “I am very positive about the rise of the woman investor tribe. I believe more women are now confident of taking sound investment decisions but there is certainly a long way to go, as DSP Winvestor Pulse 2022 revealed. 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 & 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.”
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