"Our research shows that there is a strong link between investment confidence and knowledge, so investment confidence may influence the investment knowledge gender gap,” she said. “The notable difference in investment confidence between male and female investors persists even when education, income and investment wealth are taken into account.”
Improving knowledge and confidence among investors is important in getting them to make better decisions, she said. She sees the best results “when states implement rigorous financial literacy mandates. You see better credit card and student loan decision-making and lower levels of predatory or payday loan use. When I emphasize ‘rigorous,’ I mean students are required to take the course to graduate from high school.”
Walsh said she is hearing anecdotally about industry programs designed to target women and “bringing more people into capital markets is a good idea regardless of age, gender and ethnicity. It’s always difficult during times of volatility to tell investors to get into the market, but we want people to take a long-term view of the risk and potential of the U.S. capital markets.”
The recent market volatility related to the global spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) “sheds a spotlight on the importance of understanding investments and markets and why raising the investment knowledge of both men and women is essential,” Walsh added.