Here Come Women Investors. Gen Z Is Leading the Way.
Jul 18, 2025 16:00:00 -0400 | #Advisor Investing #Top 100 Women
(Illustration by Janne Iivonen)
Investing used to be a mostly male domain. Young women are helping to change that.
Men handle the investing, and women manage the household budget: For years, those entrenched gender roles limited many women’s financial independence and ability to control their paths in life. But that is changing fast, as younger generations of women take control of their investments, tie them to longer-term goals, and often outperform men in the markets.
“I absolutely think that democratization, or I might call it gender neutralization, is occurring, especially with the younger generation,” says Morgan Stanley’s Deborah Montaperto, Barron’s No. 1-ranked woman advisor this year.
The data bear it out: More young women, with Gen Z in the vanguard, are investing in the stock market than their forebears did. They’re taking more healthy risks in their portfolios. And they’re getting good results. Veteran advisors say this evolution is part of a broad sense of empowerment in which women are embracing financial planning to fund important goals, and using investments to power those plans.
“I think women have become increasingly engaged, informed, and proactive in their financial affairs,” says MAI Capital Management’s Marla Petti, who is Barron’s No. 92-ranked female advisor.
Women’s growing engagement comes at a time in which they control an increasing share of the nation’s wealth, either through inheriting or earning it. By 2030, women are expected to double the wealth they control to nearly 40% of U.S. assets, according to McKinsey & Co.
The so-called great wealth transfer, when baby boomers are expected to pass along trillions of dollars to their heirs, is a significant reason. But women are increasingly earning their own wealth as corporate executives and entrepreneurs, notes Merrill Lynch’s Debbie Jorgensen, ranked No. 28 this year on our Top Women Financial Advisors list. Their professional success can fuel confidence in taking more investment risk.
“A woman who’s an entrepreneur, or perhaps an early pre-IPO investor or a professional, tends to be more risk-oriented and comfortable with financial markets,” says Jorgensen. “Women who have inherited wealth may be more inclined to preserve and protect their portfolios, so they may be a bit more conservative.” Investment managers, well aware which way the winds of wealth are blowing, have made women a focus of their outreach and education efforts.
As it turns out, women overall are a little better at investing than men. Studying six years of investment results among male and female clients, Wells Fargo found that women-managed accounts outperformed those led by men in both absolute and risk-adjusted returns (a measurement of how much risk was taken to achieve a given result). Wells cited women’s disciplined approach, patience, and openness to seeking investment advice.
Not coincidentally, the number of female financial advisors has been rising, albeit gradually: Women now comprise less than a quarter of Certified Financial Planners, a respected industry designation. So, do women clients prefer to work with these women advisors? Not necessarily, it turns out. Just about a quarter of the women in Fidelity’s study said they prefer to work with a female advisor and talk with other women about investing topics. Advisors say female clients’ top priorities are working with professionals who aren’t pushy, who communicate well, and who provide a feeling of empowerment.
Ali Flynn Phillips, of Obermeyer Wealth Partners, our No. 79-ranked woman advisor, said there is an exception: Female entrepreneurs often love working with female advisors, she says, because they share the experience of building businesses as women.
Women Investors by the Numbers
The number of women in the stock market increased markedly in 2024,
rising 11 percentage points from the previous year.
71%
60%
2023
2024
A greater percentage of Gen Z women
invest in the stock market compared with
older women.
Percent invested in the stock market
100%
80
60
40
20
0
Gen Z
Millennial
Gen X
Baby
Boomer
The number of women in the stock market increased
markedly in 2024, rising 11 percentage points from
the previous year.
71%
60%
2023
2024
A greater percentage of
Gen Z women invest in
the stock market compared
with older women.
Percent invested in the stock market
100%
80
60
40
20
0
Gen Z
Millennial
Gen X
Baby
Boomer
Women control a growing percentage of U.S.
wealth. Their share is projected to nearly double
by 2030.
Financial wealth controlled by women
$35 trillion
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
2018
2023
2030
The number of women in the stock market
increased markedly in 2024, rising 11
percentage points from the previous
year.
60%
71%
2023
2024
A greater percentage of
Gen Z women invest in
the stock market compared
with older women.
Percent invested in the stock market
100%
80
60
40
20
0
Gen Z
Millennial
Gen X
Baby
Boomer
Women control a growing percentage of
U.S. wealth. Their share is projected to
nearly double by 2030.
Financial wealth controlled by women
$35 trillion
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
2018
2023
2030
Women control a growing percentage of U.S. wealth.
Their share is projected to nearly double by 2030.
Financial wealth controlled by women
$34 B
$18 B
$10 B
2018
2023
2030
For each unit of risk taken (as measured by
standard deviation), women investors achieve
a higher return than their male counterparts.
Risk-adjusted returns
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
Female
led
Male
led
Single
female
Single
male
When it comes to investing approach, Gen Z women embrace risk a bit more.
Aggressive
Moderate
Conservative
36%
Gen Z
62%
Gen Z
2%
Gen Z
51%
All women
46%
All women
3%
All women
Younger women are also enjoying investing more than previous generations.
Sentiment about investing
Millennial
Gen X
Boomer
100%
80
60
40
20
0
Enjoy investing
(strongly agree)
Feeling of
empowerment
(strongly agree)
Consider myself
an investor
Consider myself
a trader
For each unit of risk taken (as measured by standard
deviation), women investors achieve a higher
return than their male counterparts.
Risk-adjusted returns
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
Female
led
Male
led
Single
female
Single
male
When it comes to investing approach, Gen Z
women embrace risk a bit more.
Conservative
36%
Gen Z
51%
All women
Moderate
62%
Gen Z
46%
All women
Aggressive
2%
Gen Z
3%
All women
Younger women are also enjoying
investing more than previous generations.
Sentiment about investing
Millennial
Gen X
Boomer
51%
Enjoy investing
(strongly agree)
39
18
56
Feeling of
empowerment
(strongly agree)
48
28
73
Consider myself
an investor
61
47
37
Consider myself
a trader
23
11
For each unit of risk taken (as measured by
standard deviation), women investors
achieve a higher return than their male
counterparts.
Risk-adjusted returns
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
Female
led
Male
led
Single
female
Single
male
When it comes to investing approach,
Gen Z women embrace risk a bit more.
Conservative
36%
Gen Z
51%
All women
Moderate
62%
Gen Z
46%
All women
Aggressive
2%
Gen Z
3%
All women
Younger women are also enjoying
investing more than previous generations.
Sentiment about investing
Millennial
Gen X
Boomer
51%
Enjoy investing
(strongly agree)
39
18
56
Feeling of
empowerment
(strongly agree)
48
28
73
Consider myself
an investor
61
47
37
Consider myself
a trader
23
11
And they are catching up to their male
counterparts when it comes to investing in
individual retirement accounts.
And they are catching up to their male counterparts when it comes to investing
in individual retirement accounts.
Women’s median IRA balance as a percentage of men’s
100%
80
60
40
20
0
Gen Z
Milennials
Gen X
Baby
Boomers
Among women investing outside of retirement, the most popular investments
are individual stocks or bonds, followed by stock funds.
Money markets/
CDs
Stock mutual
funds or ETFs
Individual stocks
or bonds
79%
63%
70%
Real
estate
Bond mutual
funds or ETFs
Cryptocurrencies
52%
43%
52%
And they are catching up to their male
counterparts when it comes to investing in
individual retirement accounts.
Women’s median IRA balance as a percentage
of men’s
100%
80
60
40
20
0
Gen Z
Milennials
Gen X
Baby
Boomers
Among women investing outside of retirement, the
most popular investments are individual stocks
or bonds, followed by stock funds.
Individual stocks
or bonds
Real
estate
52%
79%
Stock mutual
funds or ETFs
Bond mutual
funds or ETFs
70%
52%
Money markets/
CDs
Cryptocurrencies
43%
63%
And they are catching up to their male
counterparts when it comes to investing
in individual retirement accounts.
Women’s median IRA balance as a
percentage of men’s
100%
80
60
40
20
0
Gen Z
Milennials
Gen X
Baby
Boomers
Among women investing outside of
retirement, the most popular investments
are individual stocks or bonds, followed
by stock funds.
Individual stocks
or bonds
Real
estate
79%
52%
Stock mutual
funds or ETFs
Bond mutual
funds or ETFs
70%
52%
Money markets/
CDs
Cryptocurrencies
63%
43%
Note: Risk-adjusted returns reflect seven-year time-weighted returns net of commissions and fees between January 2018 and December 2024, excluding advisory accounts; median IRA balances reflect traditional and Roth IRA holdings for about four million Vanguard Personal Investor clients with funded IRAs as of Dec. 31, 2022.
Sources: Fidelity Investments 2024 Women & Investing Study, Wells Fargo Investment Institute February 2025 Women and Investing report, McKinsey & Co., Schwab 2025 Women Investors Survey, Vanguard
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