Women represent less than half of repeat investors in Portugal

According to an analysis by XTB in Portugal, only 43% of the population claim to be repeat investors, and of this population, less than half (40%) are women.

This is one of the findings of the recent survey entitled “Savings and Investment Habits of the Portuguese” conducted by Netsunda.

The study indicates that among women who invest on a recurring basis, 80% only invest up to €5,000 per year. A higher percentage than that found when analyzing the same metric in the world of men who invest frequently.

This study also indicates that the main barriers to women investing are lack of capital (34%), fear of financial loss (33%), and lack of financial knowledge (26%).

However, despite this data, the number of women using the 6.9% of the platform’s total users in 2021. An increase of more than 78% in three years, reveals the broker.

This data, coming from XTB's internal analytics, also highlights that last year, 13.8% of new investors were women, reflecting a 3.1% increase over the period analysed.

XTB explains that in terms of stocks most traded by women last year, there is a strong preference for Portuguese listed companies. In the top three, Banco Comercial Português (BCP) shares stand out, followed by EDP Renováveis ​​and EDP Energias de Portugal.

“When it comes to the CFDs and ETFs most traded by women, we see a preference for global assets and technology sectors. NASDAQ (US100), EUR/USD and investments in oil, represented by OILWTI, lead the options in CFDs,” says the broker.

“For ETFs, iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF, iShares S&P 500 Information Technology Sector UCITS and iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF are favourites,” adds XTB.

Women invest less but save more

In terms of savings, 47% of Portuguese people who save are women, a higher figure than the percentage of women who currently invest.

There is a greater proportion of women (51.4%) in the universe of participants who save up to €100 per month, while there are a greater number of men (54.9%) who manage to save between €100 and €500.

One in three women believe they have a low level of financial literacy, in contrast to men, where one in four believe they have a low level of financial literacy.

58% of women consider themselves to have an average level of financial literacy, a lower figure than men, with 64% making the same assessment.

On the other hand, 6% of women consider themselves to have a high level of financial literacy, slightly less than men (7%).

“It can be seen that we have a paradigm shift, especially as women stop being conservative,” says Ariana Nunes, a personal finance specialist who was invited to analyze the data.

“They are now starting to have more access to information and technology. However, although the number of women investors is growing, this world is still the domain of men. There is still a need to increase financial culture in Portugal,” says Ariana Nunes. .

“The Portuguese are no longer so conservative, but there is still a long way to go, and the secret is to ensure more knowledge for everyone,” he concludes.

“This is a topic that increasingly deserves special attention,” says Eduardo Silva, General Manager of XTB Portugal.

“It is necessary to find and implement solutions that enhance everyone’s financial literacy and ensure that both women and men have the same ability to save and invest,” says the head of XTB in Portugal.