Report finds Asian women a third less likely to be main investment decision maker than men as The WealthiHer Network announce Asia launch

“We at J.P. Morgan are thrilled to be the first in Asia to announce our support to the networking effect of women helping other women improve their financial health,” said Kam Shing Kwang, Chief Executive Officer,J.P. Morgan Asia Private Bank. “We have a global commitment to advancing women’s financial confidence, as well as their career growth and entrepreneurial success.”

The WealthiHer Network Asia will be a collaboration of leading banks working together to drive the global empowerment and advancement of women.  In addition to events and information, the network will commission a major study to understand gender differences on attitudes about wealth and the specific needs of women in Asia.

“Expanding to Asia is a huge milestone for The WealthiHer Network, and we’re grateful to J.P. Morgan to help us start and grow quickly. It is our plan to launch The WealthiHer Network in Hong Kong through a collaboration with the leading change agents from the financial sector,” Tamara Gillan, Founder The WealthiHer Network. “We want to inspire and empower women, as well as demonstrate the benefits of gender equality to business and society in general.”

Women now account for 40% of global wealth, according to the World Bank’s Labour Force Gender Ratio report, but many women in Asia claim to be less confident about their financial knowledge.

The WealthiHer Network commissioned new research from Kantar that shows women in Asia are as engaged as men in finance overall but that:

– 49% of women in Asia say they lack confidence in financial matters
– 68% of women in Hong Kong are likely to be denied funding
– 80% of women in Singapore are concerned about gender bias in the finance industry
– Asian women are 33% less likely to be the sole decision maker on investment products than Asian men

The Women In Finance Asia report conducted by Kantar looked at the differences in attitude towards wealth and finance between men and women in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

It found that Asian women overall are 30% less likely to treat investment as their top financial product than men.

In Vietnam women are 50% less likely to treat ‘investment products’ as their number one financial priority than men; in Singapore women are 31% less likely; in Hong Kong women are 29% less likely and in Malaysia women are 25% less likely.

The WealthiHer Network will conduct further research to understand gender differences in attitudes about finance, as well as ways for the financial industry to best support the advancement of women.