​Becoming a More Confident Female Investor

By: Jennifer Weitsen

In a recent study of 6,000 female investors across 6 countries, the Center for Talent and Innovation found that women in the U.S. were less financially confident than women in the UK, India, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The study also found that less financially confident women were less likely to give philanthropically and/or to invest on value-based investments — even though they may be interested.

Women often have lower rates of financial confidence than men. According to Wealthrive, a community of women committed to being advantageous with their financial resources, 70% of women consider themselves savers, rather than investors.

So how can women invest on their own terms to enhance their life, grow wealth and effect change?

So how can women invest on their own terms to enhance their life, grow wealth and effect change?

In this Ellevate Network Jam Session, Andrea Turner Moffitt founder of Wealthrive and Dionne Gumbs, who joined Andrea to create the Wealthrive platform, share how you can become a more confident female investor.

Andrea also recently published a book, Harness the Power of the Purse: Winning Women Investors, which reveals compelling insights on the female investor market. 

Align your life and financial resources

Many women think about their lives in three core categories: Lifestyle, Creating Wealth and Meaning & Value. However, to amplify your economic power you must work towards aligning your life with your financial resources.

1. Lifestyle

The lifestyle aspect includes our immediate income and salary (and how good we are at asking for raises), short-term savings and maintaining the right cash flow (without overspending).

2. Creating Wealth

What are your long-term goals around investing for your future and where do you do that? It is important to demystify this aspect and align with your personal interests in areas such as:

• Stock market
• Angel investing
• Real estate investing
• Alternative investing

3. Meaning & Value

This includes giving back to the community through traditional philanthropy, as well as through other opportunities, such as social and impact investing.

Getting past your personal investment roadblocks

There are three core steps to getting past the roadblocks.

Step 1: Define your mission & purpose

What is the personal and professional mission for your life? How do you want to be known in the world? What matters most to you? This can entail all three aspects of your core lifestyle, creating wealth and meaning and value.

Step 2: Understand your financial identity

Determine your unique mindset, perspective and approach to making financial investment decisions including:

Confidence – How confident are you as an investor? Consider where you have perceived expertise, financial acumen and your own experience.

Decision Making Style – How engaged do you want to be? What composure or adaptability level do you have as markets move up or down? How does your risk tolerance fit in with your overall objectives and framework? It’s important to use a measured approach when considering risk — to align with your vision for the future.

Step 3: Create a personal investment framework — that sets you up to take action, engage and be confident

Determine where you want to engage as an investor. Typically your investment structure will be split across a range of risk and return aspects, including:

Protecting your financial security and lifestyle.

Growing your wealth position through:

• Markets: investing in more traditional methods for long term goals like retirement and family education
• Opportunistic: investing in wealth mobility through taking outside risks for outside returns (e.g. angel investing).

For more information on becoming a more confident female investor, watch our Ellevate Network Jam Session.

Andrea Turner Moffitt is the Founder of Wealthrive. After a decade on Wall Street and inspired by the incredible momentum of women’s rising economic power, Andrea set out to create a modern platform for women to up their engagement investing on their terms to enhance their life, grow wealth and effect change in the world. Andrea co-authored a global study on female investors with the Center for Talent and Innovation. She earned her MBA and MIA from Columbia University and BA from Tulane University.

Andrea also recently published a book, Harness the Power of the Purse, which reveals compelling insights on the female investor market.

Dionne Gumbs joined Andrea to create a platform that gives women the tools and confidence they need to take command of their financial lives and become smarter investors. Dionne is currently the North East Regional Vice President of Business Development for Fisher Investments where she is responsible for cultivating relationships with high net worth families and their professional advisors. She also plays a major role in the company’s focus on women and wealth. She earned a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia University.