Paving the way for women to have access to investments

In celebration of International Women’s Day, Sanlam Investments and Satrix investment professionals share their views on how more women can be encouraged to invest in building wealth and financial resilience.

Helena Conradie, CEO: Satrix

There is a growing awareness and urgency around financial inclusion in general, not surprisingly driven by smart and curious women! They understand the magic of inclusion and financial freedom. Accessing local and global markets is now easily within reach of all investors and women are increasingly exploiting these opportunities. The attendance and enthusiastic participation of hundreds of women at the annual JSE She Invests event says it all! 

But the work is far from done. As a society we need to challenge the exclusive aura around investing and allow everyone an equal opportunity to invest and participate in the market. As an industry we need to address several points of access along the investment journey… Access to knowledge, affordable advice, client-centric platforms and cost-effective products.  

All over the world, women are instrumental in redefining the industry; democratising investments is an example of reducing inequalities and a shift to a more purpose-driven industry. 

Yonela Makwetu, Portfolio Manager and Co-Head of Sanlam Investments’ Alternatives 

The democratisation of investments is currently underway, with retail investors having access to platforms like Satrix and EasyEquities. These platforms have made it easier for ordinary citizens to gain access to the market. In addition, today we have better access to financial information and ideas are easily debated in Twitter trends. A new generation of investors will arise as we are seeing previous barriers to entry being removed. Women are already participating in these trends, which is exciting. What is needed is the removal of  structural inhibitors such as the gender-pay gap to ensure that women can participate more. Progress has been made. In most countries the gender pay gap has decreased in the last couple of decades. Women participation in the labour force has also risen. A study conducted by the United States Census Bureau finds that the wage gap between women and men is larger for older workers. This is a step in the right direction, compared to the previous generation, younger women today have better odds of being able to generate wealth for themselves and their families.

Jenny Albrecht, COO: Satrix 

I’ve been in the industry for 23 years and the change has been slower than one would expect. Of course, some companies are way more progressive than others in this regard. Although more women are in senior leadership and board positions, investment management is largely still male-dominated – let’s just say men don’t have to work as hard to be heard or seen. I’ve been fortunate to be part of an investment team which is diverse in all aspects (including gender balance), but this is not the norm. I love that we are seeing more women investing. I think women are tired of taking a back seat in all respects and are finding their voice. I see more women of all ages who are determined to take charge of their finances and are hungry for knowledge on how to do this.

Natasha Narsingh, Head of Sanlam Investments’ Absolute Returns

In investment speak, the ‘trend is certainly moving in the right direction’, due to the availability of online investments as well as women having more opportunities to hold the reins and take charge of their financial futures. As more women join the workforce, they have increased opportunity to participate in employer-sponsored retirement plans. Outside of this, many women are realising the importance of investing during their working years to help provide for a financially secure retirement.  Additionally, we need to get the financial community – financial advisors and asset managers like ourselves – to help move the dial by developing creative channels that reach out, create a connection and ‘talk to women’. This means a move away from the financial magazines and business newspapers to the circles where women are!  

Lauren Benjamin, Head of Human Resources 

Access to investments starts with self-care.  Unemployment rates and the proportion of single-mother households within the South African context make this challenging, but, as women we need to embrace the concept of “paying ourselves first” if we are going to take advantage of the progress being fought for at an industry level.

Lilian Lerm, Portfolio Manager

Education and awareness are key requirements to encourage the continued improvement in financial independence for women. With the power of knowledge and awareness of historical biases, women can make the necessary decisions to ensure the health of their financial future and are less likely to fall into historical traps such as accepting responsibility for household expenses while their partners are saving and creating wealth for themselves. Obstacles such as wage discrimination and women being overlooked for promotion, which further affects the ability of women to create wealth for themselves and their families, need to be acknowledged and rectified by businesses. A marked positive trajectory could be experienced by getting investment and social influencers to speak out on the existing headwinds women experience and encouraging them to take their financial independence into their own hands.