Research Summary
Women Entrepreneurs Take Lead in Plans for Investing
Washington, DC-Among business owners who do not currently invest in stocks or mutual funds, women entrepreneurs are twice as likely as their male counterparts to begin investing in the coming year. More than one-third of these potential investors would consider investing online.
One-third of potential investors would go online
A new survey from the National Foundation for Women Business Owners (NFWBO), National Discount Brokers (NDB), and womenCONNECT.com also revealed that just over half (55%) of women business owners currently invest in stocks or mutual funds compared to 67% of men business owners. The total value of the investments held by women business owners is lower than the total value of the investments of men business owners. Although 40% of both women and men business owners have less than $50,000 invested in stocks or mutual funds, 36% of men business owners have $100,000 or more invested, compared to only 17% of women business owners.
“As their businesses grow and prosper, women entrepreneurs have more disposable income for investing,” explained Lois E. Haber, CLU, ChFC, NFWBO Chair and President & CEO of Delaware Valley Financial Services, Inc. in Berwyn, Pa. “Twenty-five percent (25%) of women business owners who are not investors today plan to start in the coming year, compared to 13% of men. We must ensure that all women business owners have the information they need to be informed investors.”
Dennis Marino, NDB Chairman, noted, “This survey showed us that when we take into account current investors who are not online and non-investors who say they would consider investing online, 6 in 10 women business owners are potential online investors. This is a tremendous market opportunity and we want to help these women benefit from the advantages of online investing.”
“Recent NFWBO research has shown that women business owners are more likely than men to use the Internet for business purposes,” said Haber. “So we were not surprised to learn that among non-investors who are likely to begin investing, women business owners are twice as likely as their male counterparts to consider online trading.”
Both women who currently invest and those who expect to invest in the future would be more likely to trade online if they could speak to a brokerage representative and receive and download information. The security of their transactions and the ability to access account information online were additional considerations cited by both groups.
“NDB’s goal is to establish solid relationships with women investors by providing access to the sound information they need to make educated decisions,” NDB’s Marino explained. "This was the impetus for our partnership with womenCONNECT.com, the premier online community for professional women, as well as a major reason behind the development of NDB University, which provides detailed information and insights into investing, personal finance, and financial markets. Furthermore, in a recently-launched advertising campaign, NDB pledged to make a donation to NFWBO for every account application generated through the womenCONNECT.com affiliation."
The report from the National Foundation for Women Business Owners, National Discount Brokers, and womenCONNECT.com also revealed that women and men business owners rely on many of the same sources of information on financial issues for investing, including mutual fund companies or brokers; financial planners or advisors; general interest magazines or newspapers; and investment advisors. However, women business owners are much less likely to seek financial information from financial magazines or newspapers than are men business owners.
Charts
Current or Likely Online Women Investors Desire Access to Account Manager, Information
Majority of Business Owners Have Investments in Stocks or Mutual FundsMost Business Owners Have Less Than $100,000 Investmented
The National Foundation for Women Business Owners (NFWBO) is a nonprofit research and leadership development institute. NFWBO is recognized as the premier source of information and intelligence on women business owners and their enterprises by corporations, policy makers, financial institutions and the media. Up-to-date intelligence about women business owners and their enterprises worldwide is documented in NFWBO’s original research and analysis. The Foundation is affiliated with the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).
Headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, National Discount Brokers Group, Inc. (NYSE: NDB) is the parent company of two financial services entities: National Discount Brokers/ndb.com and Sherwood Securities. National Discount Brokers currently has over 120,000 customer accounts with assets comprising in excess of $5.3 billion. Sherwood Securities’ main operations are as a wholesale market maker in approximately 3,200 Nasdaq and small-cap securities. National Discount Brokers Group, Inc. also owns the majority limited partnership interest in Equitrade Partners, a specialist on the New York Stock Exchange. Combined, the three entities generated more than 6.9 million transactions over the past fiscal year.
NDB will make a donation to NFWBO for every account application generated through the womenCONNECT.com affiliation with National Discount Brokers.
WomenCONNECT.com, previously known as Women’s Connection Online, provides an online community for women business owners and professionals at www.womenconnect.com. Under the direction of former USA Today editor Angelia Herrin, WCC’s award-winning columnists and writers create thoughtful and relevant original content focused primarily on business, career, personal finance, health and politics. The more than 4,000-page site offers daily, women-related news and feature stories; special reports; a searchable directory of women-owned businesses and calendar of women’s events; chat sessions with experts and bulletin board discussions, as well as value-added products and services targeted to women business owners and professionals.
Study Methodology: The survey was conducted by telephone among a nationally-representative sample of 1,000 business owners-800 women and 200 men-randomly selected from Dun & Bradstreet’s Dun’s Market Identifier database. The interviews were conducted from mid June through mid July, 1998. Decision Insight of Kansas City, Missouri, a woman-owned firm, conducted the interviews.
The sampling error for samples sizes 800 and 200, respectively, are ±3.5% and &plusnm;7.1% at the 95% level of confidence. This means that, 95 times out of 100, survey results will be within the above ranges compared to true population values.
Citation
Center for Women’s Business Research. “Women Entrepreneurs Take Lead in Plans for Investing.” Research Summary. December 16, 1998. Washington, DC.