Business executives. Studies show that women are better money managers and make wise investment decisions than men. FILE
We have been carrying out a research on why more women should be included in company boards. As a result of that survey I have munched so much data supporting this agenda.
Market Talk has always supported inclusivity and diversity as a way to ensure all possible scenarios are taken care of while developing and executing new strategies.
In one of the studies we conducted, it was found that when women in some parts of Rift Valley were allocated a few coffee stems by their husbands it had higher impact it had been imagined.
One is that it resulted in more peace at home because everyone felt included in the family financial system. On pay day, everyone would go to their sacco for their cash.
Another impact was that the women would produce much more coffee per stem than their husbands. When asked about their secret, the women were quick to say that they are good managers and very proficient in multitasking.
Because of the many tasks a woman has to carry out, they are likely to have a clear to-do list ensuring all tasks are completed. You will also notice that this is one of the habits of the high net worth Individuals that most of the low net worth individuals do not possess.
All this reminded me of the book Warren Buffet Invests Like a Girl and Why You Should Too, which is worth reading. It triggered my thoughts of how a girl invests.
Market Talk has in the past highlighted how women are able to identify the difference between the two kinds of men — the one who has made it and the other with great potential, referred to as diamond in the rough.
There is an emerging phenomenon known as concubine students in major Chinese cities like Shanghai. These students are able to identify men who can support a decent lifestyle and pay their school fees.
They use a simple system called Si yu (Chinese for four haves) this includes a car, a house, a high salary and decent job or own business.
After those thoughts I visited the bookshop to buy the book and found it was out of stock. I placed an order. Last week, I received a text from the bookshop that the book was available. After reading it one gets a much deeper perspective on the subject matter.
Now that we have covered the odd part, we can focus on building a business case as the author of the book highlights.
One of the cases is about investing in bad times — when everyone is panicking you invest. During the financial crisis Warren Buffet maintained calm and bought more stocks when most investors were selling, this is a good time to pick bargains. The main idea is that bad times also come to an end.
According to research, women investors hold stocks for longer which smooth out the effects of bad times. Female fund managers have also been found to get better than average returns by far from the funds they manage.
The author notes that when male dominate boardrooms and top offices in investment banks there is a problem related to the Y chromosome that is associated with men. It results in most focusing on quick gains.
Women on the other hand invest for long-term returns and the do more analysis to ensure they make good decisions. They are more likely to be value investors, which means they may buy stocks that have good potential not obvious to the average investor.
Just like the women coffee farmers who noted that they are better managers, when ladies are put in high political offices they have been known to save countries from economic collapse as it happened in Iceland.
Let’s include women more in all aspects of leadership it is good for the economy, life and business.
Mr Ngahu is the marketing director of SBO Research. E-mail: [email protected], Twitter: @bngahu.
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