Women are losing out on potential returns as half the number of females own a stocks and shares Isa compared to their male counterparts.

If levels of stocks and shares Isas are brought in line with those of males, the industry could see almost £9bn flowing into these products. Women represent the greatest potential growth demographic for stocks and shares (S&S) Isas, a study by CoreData Research finds.

This is because S&S subscriptions are nearly twice as prevalent among men. An additional 3,525,000 women would need to buy a S&S Isa to bring levels of ownership up to par with those of men.

On average, women who do not own a S&S Isa save over £2,500 per year – £2506 to be exact. Therefore an increase in female uptake could mean a pot of around £8.83bn ripe for the picking by S&S Isa providers.

The savings this group of women currently make are most likely sitting in low yielding savings accounts. However, had some of this money been funnelled into a S&S Isa, they could have made a considerable return on their investment. The average fund in the Investment Management Association UK equity income sector, one of the most popular sectors, returned 38.2% in the past three years*.

Therefore women placing their average yearly savings of £2,506 into such a fund could potentially have seen their money grow to £3,463**.

Angele Spiteri Paris, head of UK, CoreData Research, says: “More than two in five men have a S&S Isa compared to just a fifth of women. The low ownership of S&S Isas among women represents several investment issues coming to a head. These include lower levels of perceived investment knowledge, less engagement with financial affairs and a more risk averse attitude towards investment.

Women tend to be more willing to sacrifice return in favour of lower risk and in the UK, this concern appears to be translating into low penetration of S&S Isas among females. “Our research confirms a number of factors impact the likelihood of an individual owning a S&S Isa, these include income and other financial products like savings accounts, mortgages and loans. Gender was found to be a key variable in the likelihood of an investor owning a S&S Isa.” микрозайм онлайн телепорт займзайм на карту онлайзайм на полгода на карту