High net worth Urban Indian women favour listed equities over gold and real estate as their preferred asset class for investment, a Survey by wealth management firm Waterfield Advisors has found.
The survey, involving 104 Indian women residing in tier-1 cities with each having a net worth exceeding ₹10 crore, found that over 80 per cent of respondents advocate for specialised wealth management for women in India. It has brought out the need for a paradigm shift in how wealth management services are designed and distributed to women investors in India.
Call for better experience
The call for more engaging, educational, and personalised wealth management experiences for women is clear, the study titled ‘Women of Wealth’ and conducted by the firm’s HERitage services added.
The survey was intended to identify how this economically strong group of women are investing their wealth, the support they receive from their family and wealth management partners, and to ascertain whether there is a need for a differentiated approach to wealth management for women.
The respondent group has a vast age range of 22 to 60 years and a variety of professions: corporate salaried professionals, entrepreneurs, self-employed professionals, and homemakers.
While 61.9 percent favoured listed equities as an asset class for investment, the number of respondents who favoured gold stood at 54.3 per cent, followed by real estate at 41 per cent.
Nearly 41 per cent of respondents identified themselves as having a broad understanding of investments.
As many as 65 percent of self-employed professionals are not satisfied with their wealth manager, along with 50 per cent of entrepreneurs and 53 percent of corporate professionals.
As much as 95 percent of respondents show interest in investing in at least one asset class. About 58 percent of the respondents regard themselves as risk-averse. Nearly 47 percent of the respondents are strongly involved in their families’ investment decisions, but 42 per cent (homemakers) are not involved at all.
Commenting on the findings, Nita Shivdasani, Managing Director and Head of HERitage, Waterfield Advisors, said, “Our survey findings echo the collective voice of affluent Indian women for a paradigm shift in how wealth management services are conceptualised and delivered, advocating for strategies that are more aligned with their distinct financial goals, risk appetites, and life stages.”
The journey of financial enlightenment and empowerment for women diverges significantly from that of men, driven by distinct needs, risk profiles, and societal roles, she added.
HERitage by Waterfield Advisors is a first-of-its-kind holistic wealth advisory service crafted exclusively for women founders, entrepreneurs, inheritors, and senior corporate professionals.
India is now home to the 5th highest number of women billionaires globally, underscoring the ascent of women in the economic hierarchy. There has been a tripling in the number of women mutual fund investors over the past three years and this reflects their growing interest and participation in the financial landscape.
