2004-08-25-investors-200.jpgApproximately eighty percent of our investors are male. But I am willing to bet that eighty percent of the most successful investors are women.

I have read many stories and I began to wonder why is it that women tend to be better investors than men. I thought about it over and over, and I could not ignore the facts that women make more successful investors than men.

While this recent research shows that potentially women are naturally talented investors, many are still put off by the macho image of the stock market. Men tend to let their egos make their decisions for them. They hold when they should sell and vice versa. They buy in for fear of missing out on that one big opportunity. They refuse to ask questions or to ask for help in fear of looking silly.

In other words, men are more interested in looking strong, knowledgeable or successful than they are in making money. They invest not to get the best deal out of the market but invest so that they look good.

Women on the other hand, are much more likely to ask questions until they fully understand what they are learning, and they are usually more interested in the goal, (in this case making money) than they are in impressing the people around them.

This quality makes women great investors from all that I have read are that rather than investing according to what will make them look good, women will invest according to a plan—not according to what mood they are in or whether they will be “right” or “wrong”.

Investing is not about being right or wrong. It’s about making money. Women are able to put their egos aside in ways men have trouble doing. This ability to set their ego aside makes women great investors.

Need proof? Ask yourself this: if a man and a woman are lost on a trip, which is more likely to stop and ask for directions? Being involved with Financial Services since a long time I have noticed women are more likely to ask investment questions until they completely understand the concepts. Men, on the other hand, can be too afraid to ask the necessary questions because he may look bad doing so.

Women tend to come to investing with a mind to learn. And when they learn, they execute solid plans. Men can be heard saying they “know that a company is good”, whereas women can usually tell you why the company is good.

“Are women better investors? As the expression goes ‘Men are from Mars and Women from Venus’… in the case of investing in shares it looks like Venus just might be a more sensible place to follow and put your money!”