Millennial women in the U.S. think now is a good time to invest, but few actually do it, according to a new study by S&P Global.
Only 26 percent of American women invest in the stock market, even though 41 percent said now is an optimal time to invest, according to the survey. Sixty-nine percent also said they believe they are in charge of their own financial well-being.
S&P Global surveyed more than 30,000 people in the 11 countries with the largest stock exchanges.
The results showed that about two-thirds of millennial women across the U.S. (68 percent) and Canada (65 percent) said they were only in poor or fair shape financially. This is at a time when women around the world are on track to control $72 trillion of wealth by 2020 or more than 40 percent of the world’s wealth.
Three-fourths of women in the U.S. and Canada said they are at least somewhat worried about their financial future. Two-thirds of women in both countries said their own actions—such as working hard saving, and investing carefully—are more important to them financially than events largely out of their control, such as what happens to the world economy.
For financial advisors, understanding how women think about and act on their finances will become even more important in the future, said S&P Global.
“As women’s influence as investors in global financial markets grows, so is the need to better understand the approach women take with their finances and the issues they care most about,” the report said.
In 10 countries, women said they are less prepared than their male peers to deal with a financial setback. But “women continue to earn more seats at the proverbial table, pushing the global financial system to grow more inclusively,” the report said.
Women in the U.S. are 14 percent more likely than men to participate in job-related savings plans, and they save at higher rates up and down the income ladder, the study said. However, “women are generally in less of a secure position to take the risks associated with investing than men.”
Advisors should “consider that women in almost all countries are generally more likely than men to weigh a company’s environmental and social impact when making an investment decision or buying a product,” the report said.