Steve Macdonald Women in Investing Interview

Steve Macdonald Women in Investing Interview

The times really have changed. Not only are women taking control of an increasing amount of the world's wealth, they are more often than not responsible for consumer spending decisions and leading their families' financial affairs. So why is it that when it comes to financial services, women are still not taking the lead?

Infinitas Asset Management Limited is bridging the gap between the financial services sector and their potential female clients with specifically tailored management services and an empathetic, respectful attitude. Women as investors tend to remain focused, conservative and disciplined, and co-founders Steve Macdonald and Dane Pymble incorporate these attributes into their approach. As investors, women are generally different to men in their approach. Industry research shows consistent differences in the methodology with which women make investing decisions, mostly being more considered and more conservative. They are also less active in trading and more willing to take advice before acting. While women's core set of commonly displayed investment behaviours are more disciplined, focused and practical, they still must be wary of taking too conservative an investment stance and avoid inertia in their investment behaviour to maximise their portfolio returns.

The success of Infinitas Asset Management Limited is gauged:
by achieving renown amongst clients as an excellent guardian of their wealth;
by maintaining a culture that is respectful of the environment in which their business operates and which is recognised for impeccable ethical standards;
by attracting and retaining high quality staff who are inspired to achieve ongoing success;
and by achieving high and consistent returns - investment excellence - for their clients.

Interview with Steve Macdonald

Investment Director
Bachelor of Economics, Master of Applied Finance

Steve has over 20 years of experience in the financial and investment markets. His experience includes investment portfolio construction and management for Individually Managed Accounts and SMA's at one of Australia's largest funds management companies (BT Financial Group) where he was a Senior Portfolio Manager and had responsibility for over $A600 million.

Steve was an Associate Director, stockbroker and dealer in the financial markets for Macquarie Equities and Macquarie Bank and during his 8+ years there he was involved in the establishment of Macquarie's agricultural commodities trading desk. He has worked as a financial planner and investment advisor at Westpac's Private Bank and at a boutique investment firm - providing wealth management advice to high net wealth investors. In the late 1980's Steve was Compliance Manager at Dominguez Barry Samuel Montagu Limited & Midland Montagu Australia Limited - one of the most dynamic merchant banking groups of that era. Steve trained and worked initially as an accountant.

Steve is a co-founder of Infinitas and is an Executive Director of Infinitas Asset Management Limited and Infinitas Capital Pty Limited.

Question: Why is it that when it comes to financial services, women are still not taking the lead?

Steve Macdonald: It is still, sadly, quite common for women to receive poor service from financial services firms. Many financial advisors both ignore the woman and talk to her male partner in a meeting or talk down to the woman in a condescending manner. Many men claim joint or family finances as their responsibility to manage - a bit like driving the car! - even if their female partner would be better at it. I think that many women think it is a battle they don't have to or want to have to claim back at least joint responsibility.


Question: In terms of family finances, it best to invest with a partner or as an individual?

Steve Macdonald: Investing family finances can be a tricky matter as often the partners will have quite different attitudes to risk. Domestic compatibility doesn't necessarily mean financial or investment compatibility. Couples should discuss whether their finances should be invested jointly and sometimes a reasonable compromise may be to allocate some money to be invested separately so that each partner can feel that they are investing in a manner consistent with their own preferences.


Question: How do the investing habits of men and women differ?

Steve Macdonald: Of course not all women are the same in their investing habits but in general women tend to be more disciplined and focused and usually more conservative than their male counterparts. For many men (and not all men are alike either) investing is a form of sport in which they compete for bragging rights and the desire to be one of the lads.


Question: Does the bias that men are the 'investors' disadvantage women who want to invest?

Steve Macdonald: It can sometimes be harder for women to find advisors/portfolio managers who will treat them with respect and provide services and products designed with their needs in mind but once they cut through that women tend to be more successful as investors than their male counterparts because of their more disciplined, focused approach.


Question: What are Infinitas Asset Management Limited's top tips for women in investing?

Steve Macdonald: There are advisors and portfolio managers who have authentic respect for and empathy with women. Some of them are men and some of them are women. Seek them out. No one should put up with condescension.
Moderately conservative investment applied with focus and discipline is a winning strategy. Don't get talked out of it if it is what you feel comfortable with.
The long life expectancy of women means that most women should not avoid investment risk altogether.
Remain vigilant against inertia - whether it is leaving cash idle in a low-interest bank account of avoiding the search for a suitable advisor or portfolio manager.
Take pride in the fact that women often outperform men in their investment performance. Encourage the men that you know to consider investing more like a woman.


Question: How can we successfully choose an advisors or portfolio manager?

Steve Macdonald: It is important to ask a potential advisor or portfolio manager some questions about their services and approach and about their experience in providing services to women. Maybe even ask them a seemingly trivial question unrelated to their job such as how they spent the last weekend. More important than the particular responses are the tone and nature of the responses. Women shouldn't put up with condescension from anyone. Infinitas Asset Management www.infinitasmgt.com.au has produced a questionnaire that is available free of charge by email to help women select an advisor or portfolio manager.

Question: How important is gut feeling when investing?

Steve Macdonald: The numbers for a potential investment must all stack up but if gut feeling - or intuition - isn't there also, the chances are that the investment will not be a positive experience. As a portfolio manager I believe strongly in the importance of gut feeling or intuition or common sense. Different people call it different things but it is all about the same concept. An investment has to not just appear right - it needs to feel right.


Question: What's the first piece of advice you give a woman when she enters your office, having never invested before?

Steve Macdonald: The first and most important piece of advice I can offer as a portfolio manager is to tell a woman to be frank and open about what she is looking for from a professional advisor. It is wrong to assume that because she is a woman she will have particular requirements.


Question: What is the minimum amount of investable money you'd suggest a family or woman begins with?

Steve Macdonald: There are services and products available that can be useful for a family or woman with a budget of any size - the trick sometimes may be to find a an advisor for whom it makes economic sense to provide those products and services to clients with a small amount to invest. But at all levels of investable wealth there are some common sense wealth enhancing steps that families or women can take before considering starting to make investments and these are simple things like preparing a rigorous budget that sets aside money for savings and paying off credit cards and other debts as a top priority.


Question: Why did you first become an investor?

Steve Macdonald: I am a male and in investing for myself I tend to invest like a man. I first started investing for myself as a form of sport and because I thought I could make a lot of money from it. I have learnt with experience that investing like a woman (focused, disciplined, and reasonably conservative) is a smarter way to go and it is the approach that I favour for my clients.


Interview by Brooke Hunter