Female investors tend to outperform men

Women who invest tend to outperform men. Nevertheless, they are more often reluctant to invest. Why is this the case, and why is it necessary to improve women’s financial literacy?

According to data from VÚB Bank, women achieve returns that are 0.4 to 0.6 percent higher per year than men. This difference may not seem significant, but over the long term, it adds up.

“If, for simplicity’s sake, we assume a 1 percent difference in investment returns between men and women in favor of women, after, say, 20 years of holding the investment, it will be clear that every percentage point counts. Hypothetically, if both invest 1,000 at the start and earn returns of 10 and 11 percent per year, respectively, after two decades the woman will have 8,062 euros—1,335 more than the man,” calculates Štefan Hronec, a financial education expert at VÚB Bank.

What accounts for this difference in returns?

• Patience. Women more often prefer the “buy and hold” strategy, which generally outperforms frequent trading in the long run.

• Discipline. Women tend to be less prone to letting emotions or sudden decisions influence their actions during market downturns.

• Diversification. Women spread portfolio risk more effectively because they more often choose instruments that are broadly diversified (e.g., ETFs linked to stock indices). They are less likely to engage in stock picking.

• Long-term focus. Women consistently consider the entire investment horizon.

• Willingness to seek advice. Women are more inclined to seek advice from an expert. As many as 86 percent of women report that having their portfolio managed by an expert reduces their stress.

Despite this, women (not only) in Slovakia invest less than men. Their caution sometimes turns into a barrier to entering the investment market. They are far less confident that they could handle investing. In this case, the barrier is lower self-confidence, not a lack of ability.

“Looking at investments since the beginning of 2026, we see that women account for approximately 46% of the investment volume and men for 54%. In terms of the number of investments, this difference is somewhat more balanced—women account for 48% of the total number of investments and men for 52%. Yet it appears that women can be better investors than men,” says Štefan Hronec.

In its study from last year, the National Bank of Slovakia notes that men in Slovakia have higher financial literacy than women, although the differences narrow with increasing income and education.

For women, however, being well-versed in the financial world is extremely important. According to statistics, women live longer than men and are more likely to become widows—a period that is often associated with financial hardship, among other things, so they should prepare for it. There is also still a gender pay gap in favor of men, which results in lower pensions for women.

Women also experience disproportionately more frequent career breaks related to childcare (although an increasing number of men are now taking “parental leave”). And it is more often women who are single parents (single-parent households). This, too, contributes to women’s reduced ability to accumulate wealth. They have fewer resources to invest.

Men in Slovakia invest more and are thus able to accumulate more financial assets. At the same time, thanks to the high rate of home ownership in Slovakia, the differences in total wealth between men and women are smaller.

Overall, the share of households in Slovakia that own investment instruments (stocks, bonds, or mutual funds) rose from 6% to more than 10% between 2021 and 2023, according to data from VÚB analysts. The age structure of Slovak investors reveals that middle-aged people, aged 45 to 54, hold the largest share of these instruments. However, the proportion of young investors—both men and women—is also growing. This is facilitated by easier access to investing, for example through banking apps.

“It’s worth keeping a few investment principles in mind. For example, that time in the market always beats market timing. Long-term investments allow compound interest to grow your assets and smooth out any periods of market corrections. In contrast, ‘market timing’—that is, trying to find the absolute best time to enter the market—is a lottery. Regular investing yields better results. Time, in fact, does more than a larger sum. The mistake isn’t investing poorly, but starting too late or not investing at all,” adds Štefan Hronec.