Women 'best share tipsters'

30 November -0001

0Comments | Comment on this Article

The City's trading floors may still be dominated by men, but women are better share investors, according to research.

Analysis of 100,000 share portfolios by Digitallook.com has shown that women have invested far more wisely than men over the past 12 months.

The average woman's portfolio has grown by more than 10% in the year to 31 July 2004, the study found.

This compares to a 7% rise in the value of the FTSE All Share Index - and 6% average increase for men.

"When it comes to the dominant sex in the City, women have proved to be the consistent winner," said Andy Yates of the investment research website.

According to DigitalLook.com, the overwhelming reason for the success of women investors was their more cautious approach to investing.

Women tended to have more "balanced portfolios" compared to men who adopted more risky strategies and concentrated on fewer stocks.

Men also tended to be too focused on data, rather than detailed knowledge of companies and "sentiment" - one of the most important issues in share investing.

The types of stocks chosen by men and women reflected their attitudes towards risk. This had an overall effect on the strength of their portfolios.

Men continued to bet on technology and biotech stocks, which were usually more risky and volatile, whereas women were more likely to invest in areas that they knew about, such as retail and banking stocks.

0Comments | Be the first to comment!