How Australia is closing the gender gap in investing

Women have long been underrepresented in the investing world. From brokerage accounts to financial media, the industry has historically skewed heavily male. The data, by and large, has reflected that. But a new look at Sharesight's own user base tells a more nuanced story, one where Australia stands out as a clear outlier.

The numbers

An analysis of anonymised data from hundreds of thousands of Sharesight users around the world reveals that women account for 24.1% of Australian users on the platform — more than double the number seen in the United States (9.9%) and the United Kingdom (9.6%), and significantly higher than Canada (11.7%) and New Zealand (17.9%).

It's worth noting that Sharesight's user base is opt-in and not nationally representative. These figures reflect who is actively tracking their investments using our platform, not the total investing population of each country. However, the scale of the difference between markets is hard to dismiss.

"Although this doesn't necessarily reflect overall national participation rates, the data suggests Australian women may be more engaged in actively tracking and managing their investments than their peers in other Western markets," says Sharesight's Chief Customer Officer, Jessica Goodall.

What’s driving the difference?

There's no single explanation, but a few structural and cultural factors are worth considering.

Superannuation creates investors by default. Australia's compulsory super system means that every person who enters the workforce, regardless of gender, becomes an investor from day one. Unlike the opt-out pension schemes in the UK and US, there's no disengaging from super — and that early, unavoidable exposure may shape how Australians think about long-term investing. As Morningstar's Director and Investment Specialist Shani Jayamanne puts it: "Compulsory superannuation means women are investors by default from the moment they enter the workforce."

ETFs and passive investing have become mainstream. Australia has a high level of public familiarity with ETFs and passive investing strategies, which lower the perceived complexity of getting started. When investing feels accessible, more people engage with it, including women who might otherwise feel the industry isn't designed for them.

The broader cultural conversation around financial independence. There's been a growing mainstream discussion in Australia around wealth equality and financial independence for women — in the media, in workplaces, and increasingly in everyday conversation. That cultural shift has real implications for who feels welcome and capable in investing spaces.

The household CFO argument

The data only tells part of the story, and the rest is worth paying attention to.

"Many women are already the CFO of their household — from managing day-to-day budgets to planning for the future," says Dora Yip, Chief Marketing Officer of Pocketsmith.

"It's no surprise that investing is a natural extension of that role. The stereotype that women aren't good investors is just one of many outdated myths about women and money."

This is an important point. The skills involved in actively tracking a portfolio — attention to detail, long-term thinking, consistent review — are exactly the same skills many women apply to household financial management every day. The leap to investment tracking isn't as large as the gender gap in traditional investing would suggest.

Engagement is the critical next step

Even with a more encouraging picture in Australia, the data still shows men make up roughly three-quarters of Sharesight's Australian users. The gap hasn't closed, it's just narrower than elsewhere.

But that narrowing matters. It's evidence that participation levels aren't fixed, and that structural, cultural and product factors can genuinely move the needle.

According to Jayamanne, engagement itself is a meaningful outcome.

"Automatic enrolment and participation don't solve the well-documented retirement savings gap,” she notes.

“Engagement — actively tracking and understanding portfolio holdings — is the critical next step. The women who engage with portfolio monitoring tools will make more informed portfolio decisions and strategies that can help with closing retirement savings gaps and lead to better quality of life."

What this means for Sharesight

At Sharesight, we build tools for investors who want to take an active, informed role in understanding their portfolio performance. And data like this is a reminder that the investing community is broader, more diverse, and more engaged than traditional narratives suggest.

Australia may be leading Western markets on this measure, but there's still meaningful ground to cover everywhere, including here at home. We're proud to be part of the infrastructure that helps investors of all backgrounds take their financial future seriously.

FURTHER READING

• Future focus: The perils of the new financial system
• Why women should invest differently
• Why we need to talk more about investing: Angela's story