Abridged article printed with thanks to Business Desk.

Thanks to the pioneering trailblazers who took their place at the board table before us, workplace gender inequality for women is widely accepted as an imbalance that society is slowly intervening to redress. 

Yet despite this progress, women remain underrepresented amongst investors, and behind their male counterparts when it comes to achieving financial success. According to research undertaken by Financial Services Council NZ in 2021, 60% of women surveyed rated their investing literacy as low, compared to 40% of men. 

The basics are well documented, including the unique challenges that impact a woman’s wealth trajectory such as the wage gap, time away from work as primary caregiver of children or elderly parents, and longer life expectancy.

Another known barrier is a lack of confidence to make informed financial decisions and a shortage of access to relevant information. Research undertaken by Milford Asset Management in late 2022* showed that women clients who started investing with little knowledge of the financial landscape, soon gained confidence through information, online tools and advice. 

Liz Greive, investor and Founder of Share my Super, understands only too well the boundaries that have beset women in the world of investing.

“At the time we started putting funds aside, 25 years ago, I think the culture was that this was men's work. At first I didn't go to the meetings with our financial adviser, and then I thought, ‘you know, I'm being left out in the cold here’. Even though I'd always run our household finances, supervised quite big building projects, and run my own successful consultancy business, I was excluded.”

When she did start attending the meetings, Greive admits the lack of investment knowledge available to women was a barrier. “My opinion wasn't asked for and I basically just sat and listened and found it all totally bamboozling. I never had the confidence to say I don't understand this. So, I started the journey of learning about investing.”

It’s a different landscape today with more women feeling confident to seek financial advice. Half of Milford’s 180 employees are women and 42% of the Milford financial adviser team are women versus the National average of 22.5% (research out of the University of Otago and RMIT University Melbourne). 

“Normalisation of investing amongst younger women will start to develop when they see other women visible in the investing world,” says Greive. “All the young people I know have more confidence in finance, they may be more exposed to it in their career paths. I also think where there is joint ownership of wealth, both parties should be involved in all decisions. We need to normalise women in finance, making them more visible, telling their stories and offering women opportunities to meet with other women and network.”

This equally applies to older women who, no matter their age or stage of life, could benefit from connecting with other women interested in investing. Greive says investor discussion and educational groups would create space for women to meet with others in the same situation.

Her key piece of advice for women of all ages is to get involved: “Make sure you are included - that you are jointly involved in any investments, any bank accounts, everything is visible to you, major ownership is in your joint names - and that you are always involved and consulted.”

*Quantitative research of 37 Milford clients carried out by independent research agency TRA for period November - December 2022.

If you would like to discuss your situation with one of Milford’s Wanaka-based Wealth Management team, please feel free to get in touch on 03 443 4695. Financial Adviser Disclosure Statements are available on request free of charge. 

Disclaimer: Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Milford Funds Limited is the issuer of the Milford KiwiSaver Plan and Milford Investment Funds. Please read the relevant Milford Product Disclosure Statement at milfordasset.com. Before investing you may wish to seek financial advice For more information on our financial advice services please visit milfordasset.com/getting-advice

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Tel: 03 443 4695