In Charts: Key metrics that matter to women mutual fund investors
women form 30 percent of Axis Mutual Fund customer base, holding around 35 percent of the total AUM of the fund house.
The number of women investors in the mutual fund space has registered a consistent rise with women accounting for 21 percent in December 2023 – notably higher than the 15 percent representation in March 2017 – as per data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).
Now, a latest survey from Axis Mutual Fund, based on one crore retail investor clientele, has shown that while the investment landscape has seen a paradigm shift in the last few years, women have emerged as active managers of their financial portfolios.
As per the survey findings, women form 30 percent of Axis Mutual Fund customer base, holding around 35 percent of the total AUM of the fund house, which is currently pegged around Rs 2.74 lakh crore.
More importantly, around 22 lakh women investors of Axis MF made average gains of over Rs. 80,000, as of December 2023.
Here are some of the key findings of the survey:
Women investors have shown more resilience during tough market conditions by staying invested. The survey notes that while the number of men and women who stayed invested during a bull market are on par, the metrics change significantly during bearish conditions as almost 40 percent of women stayed invested against just 31 percent of men.
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An increasing number of women investors have also started investing through direct route, via various online platforms. During FY19, the number of women investors using the direct route to invest were 26.5 percent, which increased to around 35.5 percent in FY24.
While there has been a clear jump in the share of women looking to invest in mutual funds, the report notes that 29.5 percent of women still prefer traditional investment avenues such as gold and real estate. For the non-traditional assets, the number was pegged at 17.7 percent.
The report notes that once women begin investing in mutual funds, they are more persistent as compared to their male counterparts. The average AUM per women investor is around Rs 2,15,714, significantly higher than Rs 1,81,107 for men.
While SIPs have been gaining widespread popularity, the report notes that women investors prefer to allocate more to lumpsum investments as compared to SIPs. Interestingly, men prefer SIPs over lumpsum investment.
The report surprisingly reveals that women look at past performance as a crucial factor over their personal risk profile, fund profile etc.
Amongst women investors, more than 70.4 percent are seeking advice from professionals as well as friends and family members while making investment decisions. When it comes to final decision making though 71.9 percent of women take the final call, the report notes.