New study shows that the interest in investing is growing rapidly among French female investors

According to the French financial regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), the regulator has recently conducted a new study that focuses on the examination of activity and standard profile of an average French investor. The study revealed some interesting results. For example, even though men still dominate the group of retail traders, there has been a sharp surge in interest among women, who are becoming more and more willing to engage in different forms of investment and trading.

The report was published yesterday, March 8th, on the very day when numerous countries celebrate International Women’s Day.

The study represents the first major insight into the activities of local retail investors in France. It differentiates them based on age and gender, primarily seeking to identify typical investor profiles. According to the results, in 2022, men represented 70% of active retail investors, while women made up the remaining 30%.

Furthermore, the study shows that retail traders behave differently based on age. Men belonging to younger age groups tend to engage in more transactions. Meanwhile, the number of female participants increased gradually over time. Speaking of female investors, only 17% of them under 35 years of age think of themselves as active investors. At the same time, over 30% of women investors aged 55 or above are active traders.

The number of active investors, including both male and female investors, represents approximately 2.1% of the entire French population, according to the study.

Additional details revealed by the study

The AMF noted that the number of equity transactions remains fairly similar between men and women. However, younger women tend to use larger amounts in their transactions than men of the same age group. In fact, women used amounts that are three times larger when it comes to groups aged 24 or under, and 1.4 times larger when it comes to groups that are between 25 and 29 years of age.

As for the older age group, the percentage of female investors is higher. For example, when it comes to male investors under 24 years of age, they represent 84% of active traders. Meanwhile, in a group of investors that are 65 or older, the values start to equalize. When it comes to investors that are over 75, the split is practically 50:50.

Another interesting detail revealed by the study says that investors seem to prefer the equities market, with 78.1% of investors participating in it. After that, 13.4% primarily deal with ETFs, followed by 5.5% who are in complex instruments, and lastly, only 3% of all French investors work with bonds.

Male investors are more numerous than female investors in complex products, where 6.6% represent men, while 2.8% represent women, which is the figure that includes all age groups combined. However, female investors are more interested in bonds — 5.5% of them, while male investors in bonds only represent 1.9%.

With previous studies suggesting that female investors prefer safe investments to taking large risks, this data seems to confirm that conclusion, hence the increased interest in bonds.