Girl Power! Women in Forex Trading

There are, sadly, many worlds in which women are yet to make as much progress as others – and where, either through tradition or reputation, men dominate the conversation. Trading is one such sphere. Yet the fictional 'Wolf of Wall Street' view of trading isn't strictly accurate and, while there is MUCH to be done to help more women to get into this world, there is good news and reason to be optimistic. In this post, we'll explore the positives and show and why girl power should be promoted and celebrated when it comes to forex trading.

Some women do already trade forex
First things first, there are a significant number of women already out there blazing the trading trail. In 2018, for example, one study found that only one in seven traders are women. That might be a small proportion, but it shows that this is far from male-only and that figure needs to be seen in the context of the fact that just 12 months earlier the figure was only one in ten.

Women are taking advantage of the easy access to trading in the modern era, where anyone can access the platforms they need to be able to make trades at a time – and on a device – that suits them. This democratisation of access is only going to continue to let more women in on the fun.

Inspirational women have paved the way
There are plenty of people out there who deserve praise and admiration for forging ahead with successful trading careers despite having to cope in a 'man's world'. Step forward Geraldine Weiss – who set up a successful investment newsletter in the 1960s under the name 'G Weiss' before only later revealing her gender after proving her prowess. Writing for Orbex, Oana Vasilu hails Weiss' works alongside that of visionary broker Muriel Siebert, investment advisors Sallie Krawcheck and Mary Callahn Erdoes as well as Saudi Arabian stock market investor Lubna Olayan.

All, in their own way, have helped to pave the way for today's female forex traders – and are worth reading up on for anyone in need of a little inspiration.

Women might well be better suited to this than men
The other, unspoken, element of this is the fact that women might well be better suited to forex trading. Women are studious, they do their research and take in the advice of experts from top trading books, for example. They're also less likely to make rash decisions or over commit and stretch beyond their financial or knowledge limits.

If that sounds like crude generalisation, then it's worth noting that this is backed up by research. For example:

• A 1990s University of California study of more than 35,000 households found that over-confidence caused men to make annual returns that were 1.4% less than those of women.
• Financial adviser Hargreaves Lansdown conducted a three-year study in which female clients outperformed men by an average of 0.81%. It said that women were more likely to have a diverse portfolio and made less risky choices in the first place.
• Rothschild banker Emma Sinclair found evidence that women are less likely to panic in a crisis, take time to understand rules and question things they don't understand, rather than make rash decisions.

So, there we have it. More women are already making a success of forex trading, they're following in the footsteps of formidable female pioneers and they're probably better suited to it than men anyway. Girl power indeed.

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash