Many studies show that women tend to invest more carefully than men. In times of wild market swings, their management style can pay off.
Since Feb. 28 war with Iran began, the major stock indexes have been volatile, falling before rising to reach all-time highs last week. Amid such volatility, women are more likely to adopt a long-term, buy-and-hold investment strategy than their male counterparts, research shows.
When it comes to investing, women are generally considered more risk-averse than men, says Mary Ellen Iskenderian, president and CEO of Women’s World Banking. However, they are often “worth the risk,” he said.
“Perceptions like risk have become very gendered,” Iskenderian says, “and just because a woman may not have the same risk profile, that doesn’t make her bad, it makes her smarter.”
Because they maintain their portfolio allocations — as opposed to traditional trading, which can detract from performance over time — women outperform men over time.
In fact, women investors tend to beat men by 40 points, according to a study by Fidelity Investments, based on an analysis of the annual performance of 5.2 million accounts from January 2011 to December 2020. According to Fidelity, these trends have continued.
A separate 2025 study by McKinsey & Co. it also found that women tend to choose more stable investments and take a more conservative approach to their money, prioritizing long-term financial security.
“One of the biggest misconceptions about women investors is that they’re emotional, and they’re not,” says certified financial planner Alex Roca, host of Fidelity’s Women Talk Money, a financial education program.
That savings mindset extends beyond investing, too. Almost half of women – 42% – have cut back on non-essential spending in the past year, mainly due to economic uncertainty, according to a separate 2025 Women & Money study by Fidelity. The same proportion of women interviewed said they intend to save more and pay off debt in the coming year.
“We’re seeing women prioritize long-term security over short-term gratification,” Roca said — and that approach is “very important in any economic environment.”
First, “women tend to save better than men,” Roca said. It follows that when it comes to investing, women proceed in an “analytical mode,” she said — willing to do more research and hone a strategy.
“They make a plan and stick to that plan,” he said.
‘Throw your belongings around’
By 2030, nearly two-thirds of private wealth in the US will be held by women – which will be the largest gender transfer of wealth in history, according to a 2020 research report by McKinsey.
As women control a large and growing share of the country’s wealth, they are becoming increasingly successful in their ability to manage it, Iskenderian said.
However, among the unprecedented financial benefits, “representation is really important,” he said.
Iskenderian recommends that women use their growing wealth as leverage to find the right financial advisor to establish a long-term investment strategy – and not settle for an expert who may not match their values or approach.
“I would advise any woman to put herself down,” she said. “Throw your clothes around.”
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