The Covid-19 pandemic made women more proactive about finances than they were a year earlier, according to new research.
Nationwide Retirement Institute’s Advisor Authority study found that among women investors, 72% had a strategy to protect themselves from outliving savings. It also found 83% had a strategy to generate guaranteed income in retirement. And 59% had a strategy to help protect assets against market risk.
Regarding their investing strategies, about two-thirds (68%) of women investors said they will become more conservative. Nearly three-quarters (73%) intend to incorporate more active management in the next 12 months. About 70% are concerned a recession will happen in the next year, while 56% anticipate market volatility will increase.
“Women investors are not taking their experiences living through the COVID-19 pandemic or other financial crises lightly,” said Ann Bair, SVP of Marketing for Nationwide Financial, in a press release. “After experiencing the upheaval of these events, from market volatility to juggling childcare during remote learning, women are being more proactive in thinking about and planning for their futures.”
About two-thirds (64%) of the women polled work with an advisor. Forty percent of them said they do so to feel more confident about their financial future.
The Harris Poll conducted the seventh annual Advisory Authority Survey online in the United States on behalf of Nationwide from July 22-August 17, 2021. The survey polled 1,632 advisors and financial professionals and 839 investors, ages 18+. Among the 839 investors, there were 363 women, 475 men. Women investors had investable assets of $100,000 or more and were the primary or shared decision-makers on long-term financial planning for themselves or their families.
