Rewriting the rules: Challenging outdated notions of luck, risk and gender

[SINGAPORE] I grew up believing that opening an umbrella indoors would invite ghosts into the house and that every grain of rice left uneaten in my bowl would some day manifest as a pockmark on my future spouse’s face – two superstitions that, despite their absurdity, ensured dry floors and spotless plates. In our household, such beliefs were treated as undeniable truths, passed down without question and shaping our behaviours in subtle ways.

The same unquestioning acceptance often applies to assumptions about investing, particularly when it comes to gender. We are told that men are naturally inclined to take risks while women are more cautious, that men are rational decision-makers while women are emotional investors. But just as I eventually realised that leftover rice had no bearing on my future spouse’s complexion, it’s time we rethink these deep-rooted beliefs that reinforce outdated gender stereotypes.

Societal practices that reinforce beliefs

Women indeed hold up half the sky. It’s no secret that women are earning, inheriting, and managing more wealth than ever before. In Asia, women collectively control more wealth than in any other region except North America. Their financial influence is growing faster than anywhere else in the world.

Despite this progress, women globally are expected to accumulate only 76 per cent of the wealth of men by the end of their working lives, according to the 2022 Wealth Equity Index from consulting firm Willis Towers Watson and the World Economic Forum. The global gender earnings gap remains persistent and, within Asia, South Korea and Japan stand out as the most unequal markets.

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Gender Gap Index for wage equality for similar work, the two countries received scores of 0.617 and 0.619, respectively. The scores track the distance covered towards parity – that is, the percentage of the gender gap that has been closed.

While Singapore fared the highest in the region, its 14.3 per cent median pay gap still surpasses the OECD average of 12.1 per cent – a disparity that compounds over time. One key factor is the disproportionate burden of unpaid care and domestic work. Women, on average, spend three times more time on these responsibilities than men. Yet care work can often be undervalued and underpaid, which also means that women have less capacity to generate income through employment and for wealth creation through investing.

This gender gap is not just a “woman” problem; the lack of parity limits growth and innovation for all. It is estimated that women could unlock more than US$3 trillion of additional investment capital globally if they invested at the same rate as men.

Gender not the key differentiator in investing

There’s been a lot of research to understand the behavioural differences between men and women in investing, exploring questions such as which gender has behavioural traits that lead to better investment outcomes. Studies suggest that men, on average, report saving and investing more frequently, and are more likely to identify as investors, whereas women tend to be more risk-averse and less confident in their financial decisions. These findings have shaped widespread perceptions about gender-based investment behaviours.

But when you take a deeper dive, men and women actually share more fundamental similarities in their investing views and habits than conventional wisdom suggests. The key differences appear to be influenced more by social and demographic factors such as employment status and income level, rather than innate traits. Income is a far stronger predictor of investment behaviour and attitudes than gender.

One of the most notable differences is perceived financial knowledge. According to Fidelity, women are nearly two times more likely to describe their investing knowledge as that of a beginner. When asked about financial confidence, many women instinctively respond “I should be doing more”, regardless of whether that sentiment is objectively true. But perhaps the real question is whether self-expressed confidence is even relevant. Many financial surveys continue to focus on this question, which yields the same outdated conclusions.

Instead, what may matter more is being accurately attuned to one’s level of knowledge and risk tolerance, rather than overestimating one’s ability to outsmart the market.

Recognising that gender-based differences in investing are largely overstated is empowering. It means that financial success is driven not by inherent traits but by individual choices, access to resources, and informed decision-making. Dispelling these outdated stereotypes reinforces the idea that everyone, regardless of gender, can take control of their financial future. At the end of the day, the principles of successful investing – diversification, taking appropriate risk, staying invested for the long term – are universal and not dictated by gender.

I’m passionate about trying to bridge the investment gap, but superficially labelling some financial products as exclusively for women and marketing them to just this segment does not cut it. It perpetuates the belief that women require a fundamentally different approach to money, rather than addressing the structural issues that have an impact on a woman’s financial journey, such as taking a career break to raise children, or longer average lifespans that require more retirement planning.

It’s time to bid goodbye to the Wolf of Wall Street stereotypes; investing is not inherently a gendered activity. Wealth management for women should recognise these structural challenges without being patronising or perpetuating outdated stereotypes about innate gender differences.

A woman who takes time out for caregiving needs a financial plan that compensates for lower income during this time, and the disparity in what women will need over their lifetimes due to the pay gap and longer lives means that their investment portfolio perhaps needs to take more risk.

At the end of the day, a woman may go through a different life journey, but she wants the same things as a man when it comes to financial advice – a personalised approach that is tailored to her individual needs and goals.

The writer is chief client officer at Endowus, the leading independent digital wealth platform with more than S$10 billion in client assets across public, private markets and pension – CPF and SRS