Women Doing Property Investment
The Ceiling Has a Crack in it:
The Time Has Come For Women to Excel In Property Investment
“With the ceiling firmly still intact and women still fighting for equality is it no wonder some women are fighting back, but not in the way we think.”
Women are becoming more financially astute and looking at alternative ways than the typical 9–5 job. According to Glass Door, the national average earning of a senior manager is £78,000 allowing average woman between the ages 35–55 ways to become financial free.
According to a recent study conducted by property specialists SevenCapital, based in Birmingham, 1,000 people were asked what they have invested in and what they’d consider investing in. Property investment won by a landslide as 40% of people said housing would be their first investment choice if money was not an issue.
The gender split was also interesting, with 19% of men saying they have invested in property and women, beating them slightly, with 20% agreeing.
Men have mostly dominated the investment markets over the last few decades, however there has been a seismic shift in women’s school of thought by re-educating themselves into the investment arena. Over the last 10 years, the United Kingdom has seen a growth of women looking at ways to generate a healthy pension and to retire early.
Andy Foote, director of SevenCapital, said: “It’s intriguing to see what the difference is when it comes to investments and the gender splits.”
“There are some common myths that are being blown wide open and we can see from our research that whilst rationale for investment varies, the preconception of a gender split, at least in property, just isn’t true.”
Here are the top 5 the most popular investments that women should consider;
1. Property — building a property portfolio is very lucrative, if you understand what you are investing in and can analyse any property investment to clearly understand the ROI. This type of investment has many entry points which makes it the number one choice for women. The most current trends of property investment are: HMO (House of Multiple occupation), Serviced apartments, lease options and flipping properties.
2. ISA’s — There are 3 types of ISA’s Cash ISA, Stocks & Shares and a combination of both. Investment can be split including shares, funds, corporate bonds and more and in April 2016 this type of ISA allows to invest in peer-to-peer lending. Women are currently predominantly using the cash ISA as it allows them to save up to £20,000 threshold.
3. Luxury Good- Designer bags, jewellery and watches. Heine (2012) also divides luxury brands into four different levels of luxury brands. For example, he cites Louis Vuitton as a “top-level luxury brand” women find this type of investment is in line with what they already do in terms of their everyday lives.
4. Gold — With most women being risk-averse and bank’s being so fragile, women’s confidence has been affected by this way of saving. Therefore due to its ability to hold its value, investing in gold bullion in a more assured way, liking it as a form of insurance, is becoming a popular way to hedge against other investments.
5. Cryptocurrency/Blockchain- According to Coin.dance, as of May 2018, 94.73 percent of Bitcoin community engagement and active participation comes from men and 5.27 percent from women. The low percentage can be attributed to the fact that women are risk averse and cryptocurrency holds high risk.
Even with the top 5 keys investments women consider, property is the no.1 investment option. Women are now moving in strides towards financial freedom, so they don’t have to suffice with their pension fund.
£35,700
Average pension wealth of women in the UK by the age of 60–64: one-quarter of the amount held by the average man
— Chartered Insurance Institute
An Office National Statistics (ONS) report found that property was the favoured savings option for 29 per cent of all workers and preferred most by those aged between 25 and 44.
According to the consumer website “Boring Money”, a survey in September 2017 of more than 6,000 people saw the core obstructions for women investing is willingness to engage, confidence and time.
We asked Ms Winsome Thomas Founder of in2equity ltd Financial Advisor and property investor what the percentage of male and female client were. She states ”75% percentage of my clients are female coming to me for mortgage advice, for investment properties and to also realise equity in their homes to invest into property”. She went on to say that she would always advise her clients to find a property coach that also understands the mechanic of building a business.
Investing in property can make you incredibly wealthy, supplement your state pension or even replacing it in full in retirement.
What you waiting for? Get investing and break through that glass ceiling.
Sapphire Gray
Director
SG Business Consultancy & Training
