The National News | Why Warren Buffett and women share the same investing strategies

• 6 Apr 2021

With a focus on long-term investing, the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ and women tend to avoid excessive risk and prefer passive investments, experts say

However, mainstream financial markets, systems and products are not set up to cater to women and their long-term investment strategy, according to Jessica Robinson, the author of Financial Feminism: A Woman’s Guide to Investing for a Sustainable Future.

“Take, for example, the current obsession with cryptocurrencies. My concern is that the panic and flurry is often fuelled by the priority given to short-term financial gain,” Ms Robinson says.

“This does not sit well for many female investors who want to feel connected to building a world based on their values – a world that is fairer, more equitable and more sustainable.”

Women’s wealth in the Middle East is set to grow at a 9 per cent compound annual growth rate through to 2023 and wealth managers must shift their culture to become more inclusive, according to a report by global consultancy Boston Consulting Group.

Women across the world are highly motivated to think about impact in their investment decisions – invariably those impacts have some kind of environmental and societal dimension, adds Ms Robinson, who also launched Moxie Future, an education, insights and community platform that aims to empower women as sustainable investors and “financial feminists”.

The investment industry needs a huge wake-up call because many women feel underserved and disengaged by the sector, she says.

The mainstream media belittles women’s relationship with money and investment products and services are designed, by default, through a male lens
Jessica Robinson, author

“Women often report feeling patronised or talked down to by financial advisers, the mainstream media belittles women’s relationship with money and investment products and services are designed, by default, through a male lens,” Ms Robinson adds.

In 2018, a linguistic study by the UK-based Starling Bank analysed the difference between how media outlets speak to their readers about money.

It found that women are often dubbed as “excessive spenders” and encouraged to save. They were advised to “limit, restrict and take better control of shopping splurges”. In contrast, men are “dared” to invest, to “spend” to achieve “power” and it is implied that financial success will make him “more of a man”.

The gender investing gap deserves as much attention as the gender pay gap, Ms Robinson says.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON THE NATIONAL NEWS AND REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION.