With new survey data from Boring Money suggesting that the number of women investing increased in the year to 31 January 2026, Laura Suter, AJ Bell Money Matters founding ambassador and AJ Bell director of personal finance, explains some of the barriers which are still preventing some women from investing.
This feature is part of our coverage to mark International Women’s Day, which takes place on Sunday 8th March. Here on Wealth DFM, we’re highlighting not only at the gender gap when it comes to careers in the investment profession, but also when it comes to investing amongst the general public.
“We know that women are great savers – there are nearly a million more women with Cash ISAs than men in the UK, according to HMRC data. But survey findings indicating that the gender investment gap is widening is a real cause for concern as those women sticking to cash could be missing out on boosting their long-term wealth.
“At AJ Bell, we found that women using our Stocks and Shares ISAs have been putting in higher average ISA contributions every single month than men. Women are actively budgeting and planning for their financial futures. But it still remains the fact that fewer women than men open those investment accounts and get started.
“When we asked women who are yet to take the first step what’s stopping them from investing, we found that a perceived lack of knowledge, fear of making mistakes and choice paralysis were regular offenders. Engendering a better investing culture in the UK and making investing more accessible could significantly help to boost the number of women in the UK who invest. It’s therefore encouraging that the figures suggest more women are making the move into investing, but we need to put the rocket boosters under this to solve the gender investment gap.
“It’s not just up to individuals to make a change; the financial services industry and policymakers need to help close this gap too. There’s been a boom in support for first-time investors in recent years, which will have helped women thinking about taking the first step into investing. Any ways to democratise investing, ditch the jargon and make it less scary have to be applauded.
“Targeted support should provide a boost to those investors who are wavering about getting started or need more support taking the first step. The ability for providers to better guide newcomers through the process should help all first-timers to investing.”
