DSP Winvestor Pulse 2019

Only half as many Indian women take their own, independent investment decisions as compared to men: DSP Winvestor Pulse 2019 Study

» 33% of women take independent investment decisions as compared to 64% of men
» More husbands introduced women to investing (40%) than fathers (27%)
» Women more inclined towards child oriented goals than men
» Most respondents felt children should be taught about investing before they turn 20
» Survey conducted across 8 cities, 4000+ participants in partnership with Nielsen

Mumbai, May 30, 2019: DSP Mutual Fund unveiled the findings of the DSP Winvestor Pulse 2019 Survey in association with research agency Nielsen, highlighting the investment behavior among women and men and their involvement in investment and inheritance. The survey covered 4,013 women and men across 8 cities to understand their goals and views on money.

The survey covered 4 metros: Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, and 4 non-metros: Indore, Kochi, Ludhiana and Guwahati. The study captures responses from 1853 men and 2160 women who have been involved in investment decision-making, from the age group 25 - 60. Fieldwork for the survey was done from January to February 2019. The participants include those who are currently working or have worked for at least 2 years in the past, whether they were single, married without kids or married with kids.

The study found that only 33% of women take independent investment decisions as compared to 64% men. Those women who make their own investment decisions, primarily did so due to encouragement by their husband (33%) or from their parents (24%). 13% women said that they were forced to make their own investment decisions due to their husband’s death or divorce. Only 30% of women who made their own investment decisions did so because they themselves decided to. The survey also showed that husbands (40%) play a bigger role in introducing women to investing than their fathers (27%). 40% men on the other hand were introduced to investing by their father, followed by their colleagues (35%).

The study found that the top goals for men and women are similar: child’s education, dream home, child’s marriage, debt free life and a higher standard of living. Women are slightly more inclined towards child oriented goals than men (2 of their top 3 goals include child’s education & marriage: 34% & 29%, vs 31% & 26% for men). More men aim to start their own venture & planned for retirement than women (26% & 23% for men, vs 23% & 20% for women). A surprise finding that came out was that even while single, women think of planning for a future child’s goals (22% & 23% of single women were planning for a child’s education & marriage. These figures were only 16% & 12% for single men respectively).

The study found that men dominate when it comes to decision making while investing or buying a car or house. Women on the other hand, have a larger role while buying gold /jewellery, day to day household purchases and durables. A key finding from this segment was that only 12% women said it was 100% their decision when investing in market-based instruments (stocks, equity MFs etc) vs 31% men- a figure 2.6 times lower! On the other end, 28% women said it was entirely their decision when buying gold/ jewellery vs 17% men.

It was interesting to note that a large number of women claimed to have an invest-first mentality. 39% women said they planned investments first and only then adjusted monthly expenses accordingly (compared to 33% men). What most men and women associated the word money with, was similar: fulfilling dreams, a better life, necessity, success and better health. However, a striking association that emerged was that a large proportion of married, working women without kids associated money with ‘power’.

From those who consulted someone to make investment decisions, only 42% women consulted a professional financial advisor (for men, the comparable figure was higher, at 46%). Most men (42%) and women (50%) said they were gender neutral when it came to considering financial advisors, while the second largest preference was for male advisors, by both men (55%) and women (31%). When it came to female financial advisors, 6 times more women preferred them than men (19% women vs 3% men).

Another key finding was that the qualifications/ education level of a financial advisor was the top parameter considered while choosing a financial advisor (47% among women, 50% among men).

The survey also studied attitudes towards monetary responsibilities and wealth related behavior. While most women & men (>55%) said they will always be responsible for their children (whether son or daughter), more said they will always be responsible for their son (58%) than for their daughter (51%). Strangely, almost half (48%) of all respondents said they will advise their son & daughter differently about investing. In fact, 38% said their own investment strategy will differ depending on their child’s gender.

An encouraging observation was that 65% respondents said they started investing before they turned 25. A larger number (76%) felt it was ideal if one started investing before 25. As far as their children were concerned, most respondents believed children should start taking investment decisions at an early age- while in college or when they just start working. In fact, 65% respondents said they felt children should be taught about investing before they turn 20.

When it came to inheritance, 45% of all respondents said they did not receive any form of wealth, asset or inheritance from their parents. However, a much larger number (76%) said they will pass on wealth/ assets to their children. It was interesting that 16% planned to give away their entire wealth only to charity. The study also brought out that 45% parents did not plan to pass on their wealth/ assets to their children while they’re alive (Only 53% said they’ll do so in their lifetime). 66% respondents said they will pass on their wealth/assets only after their children turn 40!

Over 65% respondents intended to split inheritance equally among their sons and daughters (67% women & 68% men say so). From those who won’t do so equally, there was definitely a higher preference for sons (45%) than daughters (24%). Interestingly, mothers showed more bias towards sons (22%) than for daughters (18%) and fathers showed more bias for daughters (14%) than for sons (12%).

A surprising finding was that after their daughter’s marriage, most parents will not really encourage their daughter to manage her own wedding trousseau. Either the daughter’s husband (27%) or the parents themselves (34%) expected to manage the trousseau.

The DSP Winvestor Pulse 2019 was conducted as part of DSP Mutual Fund’s Winvestor initiative, a program to encourage women to take charge of their investment decisions and to instill confidence in them, so they don’t depend on someone else to control their finances. DSP encourages women to take charge and own their money by seeking advice only from qualified financial experts.

Aditi Kothari Desai, Director and Head – Sales, Marketing and e-business, DSP Asset Managers Pvt Ltd said, “Young women in India today are working hard to make their presence felt at the workplace. This desire to build a strong foundation for their future is also accompanied by a rising need for independence. However, women can be apprehensive about taking charge of their investment decisions- perhaps due to the lack of early financial education, the lack of confidence or even believing that it’s not their domain.

A part of the survey that alarmed me was that women are guided more by their husbands and not by their fathers. I would appeal to fathers to teach their daughters about investing and encourage them at an early stage. Our study highlights the pressing need for women to be educated very early about investing, to enhance their standing from just being good savers to great investors. They also need access to the right professional financial advice, which will help them become confident and take control of their destiny.”

Kalpen Parekh, President, DSP Asset Managers Pvt Ltd said, “At DSP, we believe in evidence-based insights and applying them to the initiatives that we undertake. Research and behavioral understanding can help shape every aspect of decoding investor needs and help us communicate and interact better, to help them take more responsibility to plan for their goals. Women as retail investors have been a largely ignored segment for the investment industry, despite the fact a large proportion of our industry workforce, including some very senior professionals and fund managers, are women. We believe that women as investors and women as advisors should be a natural focus for our industry due to the long term orientation and discipline they bring. DSP is focused to build this segment using Winvestor and our initiatives around it.”