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How to Evaluate Funds that Invest in Women

Socially responsible investment funds can also focus on gender equality.


Investing in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that promote environmental, social and governance policies allows people to try and align their investments with their values – that includes investing in women.

A growing amount of data show that ESG-focused investments can perform just as well or even better than traditional investments, letting people do good socially and financially. That’s true for funds focusing on environmental and corporate governance factors, in which there are plenty of easy-to-quantify metrics. The data are less robust for funds focusing on improving social outcomes, such as those that purport to highlight women’s issues.

That lack of data hasn’t stopped fund issuers from creating investments geared toward women, as more women invest in stocks, mutual funds and ETFs. In fact, some research shows women are more likely to choose socially responsible investments.

But fund managers say it takes a bit more than simply choosing an investment marketed as gender-equitable to know that the fund does what it says does. The good news is that market observers say it’s getting easier. Here are a few aspects to know about gender-equitable investments:

money.usnews.com
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One million landladies as women keep their cash as safe as houses

MORE women than ever see buy-to-let properties as a low-risk way to invest their cash.


There are 1.1 million female landlords out of the 2.4 million buy-to-let investors in the UK.

Experts believe women are attracted to investing in residential property because it is a relatively stable asset and not prone to the more dramatic swings in values of shares.

Property expert Stephen Ludlow at Ludlowthompson estate agents, which carried out the analysis of government data, said: “Whilst a lot of men get entranced by get-rich-quick investments like cryptocurrencies, women are said to be much more grounded and prefer lower-risk investments like real estate.

“When we started our business 25 years ago we noticed that buy-to-let was an investment that seemed to be favoured by women over men. That has been great news for those early pioneers as residential property investment has easily beaten other asset classes like shares, bonds and cash.”

www.express.co.uk
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The local small business investing revolution

Only 1% of the $30 trillion that Americans invest in stocks, bonds and funds go to small business.


A little over a year ago Juli Kaufmann finished moving about $75,000 — her entire personal portfolio — into investments in local businesses. It all started four years ago, when Kaufmann, 46, who runs a small real estate development company in Milwaukee that emphasizes sustainable development, decided she'd had enough of Wall Street. Instead, she wanted to support companies in her area and, in so doing, boost the local economy while making a respectable return.

Through her involvement with Fund Milwaukee, a grassroots investment network; and a statewide group called Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative, she's put her money into about a dozen enterprises, including a bicycle shop, an ice-cream store, real estate and a brewery.

Mostly making loans, she's been paid back on schedule or ahead of time in all but one investment, typically charging an interest rate of around 5 percent. "I wanted to have a more tangible connection to my investments, to understand where my money is going," she said. "It seemed like a no-brainer."

www.cnbc.com
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