Friday, March 29, 2024

Why rich women of color are more confident investors than their white counterparts

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The richest people in the world are mostly men. And the richest women in the world are extremely white.

But women of color – especially black and Latin women – who are among the economically privileged in the United States are nonetheless more confident in their abilities as investors than their white counterparts.

According to a new survey from JPMorgan Wealth Management, shared exclusively with Fortune, rich black and Latin women tend more with their finances than white women. In October, the division interviewed 1,375 female investors, including 779 identified as white and 596 identified as black or Latin; all of the women interviewed had levels of investable assets of at least $ 150,000 and primary or shared responsibility for their household financial decisions.

Seventy-five percent of women of color surveyed said they felt confident about their financial goals in the coming year, compared to just 50% of white women. Seventy-eight percent at least in part developed their financial skills through their own research, such as online educational resources or television shows; only 47% of white women did the same.

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, affluent women of color have continued to show the same bold approach to their finances. Nineteen percent capitalized on market volatility as investors and traders, compared to just 5% of white women.

It seems that wealthy black and Latin women have built this confidence as financial decision makers without much help from the financial services industry. Twenty-one percent of women of color surveyed said that when they first started investing, the financial services available either did not meet their needs or led to a bad experience. Respondents did not say whether these failures were due to the financial offers themselves, a situation of negative or racist treatment by a financial advisor, or something else. Fifty-five percent of women of color agreed that investing is more difficult for people of their race.

JPMorgan undertook this research to learn how to better meet the needs of affluent women of color who come into its wealth management team, said Kelli Keough, digital and client solutions manager for JPMorgan Wealth Management. Keough adds that the bank believes that understanding the racial and gender dynamics of the rich provides insight into broader societal issues like the staggering fence. racial wealth gap.

So far, the bank has identified a key way to improve. Black and Latin women are more interested in how their wealth can support their families – and traditional services that largely focus on retirement savings are not what these investors are looking for.

To explain this difference, Keough cites some societal data that goes far beyond the small wealthy cohort that was the focus of this study. The average black family has $ 13 in wealth for every $ 100 owned by a white family, Keough says. When it comes to investing, only 33% of black households own stocks, compared to 61% of white households.

Part of racial groups facing a historic wealth divide, are black and Latin women more determined to act to secure their financial future than white women? Are affluent women of color less likely to have other extended family members with similar levels of wealth, and therefore more family-focused? Do rich white women, who are often in families with rich white men, play it safe and leave the risk-taking to their husbands, fathers and brothers?

Keough said JPMorgan wanted to do more research to answer these questions. A definitive conclusion from this research, however, is the importance of early financial education in building the habits that help affluent black and Latin women feel confident as investors. Eighty-four percent of black and Latin women surveyed had savings or investment accounts opened for them as children, compared to 78% of white women. Sixty-one percent of women of color said conversations about the importance of investing were part of their education; 55% of white women said the same.

“They’re taking control,” Keough says of women of color, “even though they say the investment world is tough.”

Learn more about the most powerful women in business of Fortune:

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