Doomsters discourage women from investing and cause them to put less money into the stock market, research shows

Doom-laden warnings about the risks of investing are keeping women from saving more money and have become an unnecessary barrier, a new study has found.

Women invest up to 21 percent less money in the stock market due to ‘exaggerated’ messages about the risks you take when investing in shares, according to research by trade organization Tisa and the University of Nottingham.

That’s despite women holding 52 percent of the 11.8 million Isa accounts with one of Britain’s biggest stockbrokers, Hargreaves Lansdown.

Women also tend to have a larger amount invested. The research found that alternative wording on financial documents, which is more informative and less off-putting to cautious investors, would have a significant impact on the amount savers invest in the stock market.

This is because women tend to have a different approach to controlling money than men. Many do not see it as their own money, but rather as family money shared with children, a partner or parents, according to research by Hargreaves Lansdown.

This means that women are less willing to take risks because they see themselves as having more responsibility.

Six in ten women admit that they consider the terminology and wording used as a barrier to investing.

However, women take the right risks and are less likely to invest impulsively.

‘Women understand that building wealth is a slow process. They avoid speculative, risky or difficult-to-understand investments,” the study said.