In recent data collections by TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. AMTD, new trends have begun emerging on the prowess of women investors. Not only does it appear that women and men invest differently, but the results illustrate that women may actually have a proclivity toward "better" investing strategies when compared to their male counterparts.
Underinvested, But Still Influential
While research tends to portray women as underinvested, that may not be the complete story. Managing Director of the Trader Group at TD Ameritrade, Nicole Sherrod, conveys that women's inherent traits work in their favor when investing. Based on their apparent distaste of risk and more subdued confidence, Sherrod proposes that while women may statistically be underrepresented in the investing world, they are still an essential cog to the marketing wheel.
In particular, TD Ameritrade's account director and public relations liaison, Megan Belt, highlights the fact that women not only control around 70 percent of household purchases (backed by a Boston Consulting Group 2009 study), but they "are estimated to drive an increase in earned income globally."
Belt proclaims, "It's not shopping, it's portfolio research."
"Women are already market makers […] Women overwhelmingly represent the ‘demand' in the supply-demand market."
Women And The Market
In describing the cited Boston Consulting Group study, Michael Silverstein and Katharine Sayre highlight how women can and will be a herculean force for economic recovery and "new prosperity."
They state, "There may not be violence in the streets, but there is upheaval in the workplace, turmoil in the home, radical change in the marketplace, and a struggle for influence in government and society as a whole.
"It is a revolution of, by, and for women – driven by a desire for more."
The Women-Driven $5 Trillion
A final issue emerged from the BCG study: broad claims that women as a demographic can make such substantial differences juxtaposed with condemned "marketing narratives that portray women as stereotypes."
Silverstein and Sayre point out, "What's more, although women control the spending in most categories of consumer goods – including food, clothing, personal care, household goods and services, travel, healthcare, financial services, and education – too many companies continue to make poorly conceived products, offer services that take up way too much of women's precious time, and serve up outdated marketing narratives that portray women as stereotypes."
But, breath easy. Boston Consulting Group's research claims that in the tangible future, women alone can drive a global earnings incremental increase of, approximately, $5 trillion – which, for reference, is substantially larger than typical bailout packages. Because of women's influence and potential, the power of the "weaker sex" should not be discounted as the economy continues to recover and analysts, statisticians and researchers speculate on how to bolster the market.
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