What Women Want: a peek into the investing choices of women investors from Hyderabad and Telangana

• A recent survey conducted by Groww—India's fastest-growing investment platform aimed to understand women's investing habits in India.
• Groww to introduce 'Groww Women's Week'; to charge zero brokerage from women investors from March 8 to March 15

India's leading investment platform Groww recently conducted a survey to understand the investing habits of Indian women investors in the run-up to International Women's Day on March 8 2021. The survey was sent to more than 2.5 lakh women and fetched more than 28,000 responses over three days. Of the total respondents, 4.7% were from Telangana, and 4% were from Hyderabad alone. The study's objective was to understand the qualitative aspects of women's investing habits, their goals, and how they view the process of wealth creation in general.
 
On this occasion, Lalit Keshre - CEO, Groww said - "Even after 70 years of our independence, women's participation in the decision making regarding investing is very low. We hope to reflect the shift in investment preferences, goals, mindsets, and roadblocks for women investors with this survey. We also captured how age, income, geography impact these differences."
 
He added - "The encouraging insight from the survey is that among the women who are investing, a majority of them take their own decisions. Even though many of them discuss their financial choices with their families or partners, the final decisions are their own. It's a remarkable shift from pre-conceived notions that men were the primary decision-makers even when it comes to managing women's wealth.
 
What is more encouraging is that women in the 18-25 age group have emerged as our most independent cohort, where almost 60% of women in this age group say that they make the ultimate decision on their investments. To encourage more women to invest, on the occasion of international women's day, we are introducing 'Groww Women's Week' wherein we'll charge zero brokerage for women investors from March 8 to March 15."
 
Here's a snapshot of the investment behaviour of women investors from Telangana.
 
Preferred Investment Choices.
 
Amongst all other states, the most number of women mutual fund investors were from Telangana, with almost 88% choosing it as one of their preferred investment options. Stocks, was chosen by 52.99% women. While the preference for equity related investments is evident, a sizable percentage also invested in traditional asset classes like FD (32%) and gold (24%). Women investors hailing from Telangana gave the highest preference to investments in small saving schemes (12.7%) compared to women from other states. Around 4.48% women from Telangana are also investing in cryptocurrencies.
 
Investing to support personal goals
 
The survey found that investors from Telangana placed the highest importance on personal goals, with as high as 49% investing to achieve them. The second popular goal that women are investing towards is to support their family (43%).Telangana’s women investors are also making early retirement and travelling a priority with 23% and 21 % investing towards these goals respectively.
 
Independent Decision Makers
 
Compared to all other states, women of Telangana emerged as the most independent when it comes to making financial decisions. While 44.78% stated that they consult their friends and families, the ultimate decision making power when it comes to investing lies with them. Around 23.88% said that they are the sole decision makers on matters related to investing.
 
The insights reveal that not only are women investing with a vision but are also approaching their investments with a balanced and goal-oriented mindset. They are more independent in their decision making and are aware of the risk-return tradeoffs to achieve their financial goals.
 
This shows that not only are women investing with a vision but are also approaching their investments with a balanced and goal-oriented mindset. They are more independent in their decision making and are aware of the risk-return tradeoffs to achieve their financial goals.
 
What’s holding women back?
 
On the national level, the survey also captured the insights from about 2000 women who do not invest. Of these, 49% stated that lack of knowledge is their main reason for not investing. Further, 32% said that they don't have enough savings to invest.13% of women also felt apprehensive about losing their money in the market. It indeed calls for further awareness and education of women on the importance of investing in building long term wealth.
 
Owing to the awareness around financial products and the availability of apps that allow people to invest with ease, there has been increased participation from all genders and income groups. In this survey, 25% of women stated that consuming financial content online made them take the first step towards investing, and 22% said investment apps like Groww drove them to begin their investment journey.
 
Women are increasingly considering investments in equities as an opportunity to build wealth in the long term to meet their personal and financial goals. Investing apps like Groww that offer hassle-free investing and educational resources have been among the most prominent allies in increasing women's participation in investing.