Investment winners: why women are making more money than men

No longer playing second fiddle to male money moves, females are firing up as investors and beating the blokes, new figures show.

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Aussie women are better investors than men, a new analysis of investment returns of almost 20,000 people suggests.

Financial technology group Revolut, which has 50 million retail clients globally including hundreds of thousands in Australia, has studied 2024 investment performance and found a clear gender divide.

Among 19,400 customers who shared gender data, women’s overall investment returns were 1.7 per cent higher in 2024. And among women aged 45 to 54, their returns were 7.99 per cent higher than men of the same aged group, it says.

Finance specialists say men are more likely to chase the next big winner and invest in speculative stocks, while women focus more on quality and doing their research.

Revolut Australia CEO Matt Baxby said women tended to be “more risk-averse and deliberate in their choices”, which could be driving the better performance.

Young women are becoming increasingly active investors, Revolut says. Picture: iStock

“While men have historically been considered more confident investors, our data shows that women are becoming increasingly empowered to embrace trading and wealth management,” Mr Baxby said.

“We’re also seeing a rise in female financial content creators, like Victoria Divine and Queenie Tan, who are helping to educate, upskill and empower women,” he said.

JBS Financial Strategists CEO Jenny Brown said she had noticed a large shift in women taking more control over investments.

“I’m not surprised by the statistics – the female clients we have seem to be a little more stable,” she said.

“They take on advice, they are a little more quality-focused, they like the blue chips, and follow what their parents did.

“Over the last couple of years we have had couples where the males have been driving the investments, and their portfolios have been a lot of ‘next best thing’ stocks.”

For every one speculative investment that did really well, nine did not, Ms Brown said.

“We are finding females are driving the relationship in a couple rather than males – they’re making the effort rather than relying on their husbands,” she said.

“Our investment philosophy is quality stocks and our female clients really value that stability and knowing and understanding what they’re investing in. We seem to attract a lot of single females.”

Revolut’s analysis found that women were opening investment accounts at a much greater rate than men, and are investing more money too, with new trading account sizes almost identical to men, up from 46 per cent in 2023.

Revolut Australia’s Matt Baxby. Picture: Supplied

“Gen Z women in particular are becoming increasingly active in the space and are taking steps to upskill and close the investment gap,” Mr Baxby said.

“We’re seeing a huge shift in the way younger generations manage their finances. Young Australians are becoming increasingly more self-directed when it comes to money and financial apps,” he said.

“There’s also been a rise in online resources that have helped close the financial literacy knowledge gap, which historically had the largest impact on women who were often shut out of or less exposed to investment discussions.

“The rising cost of living has also forced younger Australians to think about alternative avenues with lower barriers to entry to increase their income and wealth.”

Originally published as Investment winners: why women are making more money than men