The gender gap has been narrowing across professions, so why not in trading as well? A 3-year-long UK study proved that male traders outperformed the benchmark FTSE 100 by 0.14%. But, women outperformed it by 1.94%, beating men by 1.8%. So, if women are better traders, should forex brokers target women in their marketing? As a women led marketing agency specialising in financial services, we’re ready to dig into this one.
Despite such statistics, Zippia’s research indicates that the percentage of women in forex trading has declined from 10.63% in 2010 to 8.49% in 2021. The reason? Since 2021, the financial markets have seen an influx of Gen Z and millennial traders but the overall male dominance in the domain has offset the rise in the female trader numbers.
Moreover, the marketing strategies adopted by brokers usually fail to address women. Multiple studies reveal that women are not adequately represented in marketing campaigns. As per a study by Unilever, 40% of women do not relate to what is shown in adverts. While another study by Kantar Research revealed that 50% of people from marginalised groups felt they were stereotyped is some or the other way. In a 2022 survey, 86% respondents voted that advertisers should be more careful of how they represented women. For instance, women like Sarah Behbehani, a commodities trader, love trading because of the adrenaline rush and thrill of not knowing what the day is going to bring. Is she represented in forex marketing? It’s unlikely.
Top Women Forex Traders
Women are not new to trading. They have been here, albeit in small numbers, often side-lined despite their success. Some have been a part of the financial markets since the 1960s.
Fancy a wander through the history of brilliant women on Wall Street? Check out our article.
Here’s a look at the top 10 present-day full-time women traders.
#1 Karen Foo
With a degree in finance, Foo started trading at the age of 21. She has won a nationwide trading competition and authored many books. She advises beginners to gain expertise in risk management and not look for a holy grail for winning trades.
#2 Raghee Horner
One of the names behind the famous Simple Trading Course, Horner trades a variety of instruments, including stocks, forex, futures and options, backed by 30 years of experience.
#3 Linda Bradford Raschke
Linda has trading experience spanning 50 years across forex, futures, stocks and options. Raschke has also authored multiple internationally popular books on trading. Her trading memoir, Trading Sardines, emphasises that grit and resilience lead to successful trading career and not perfection.
#4 Kathy Lien
Based out of New York, Lien joined Wall Street when she was just 18 and has given multiple appearances as a forex market expert for WSJ, Bloomberg and CNBC. She regularly shares trading tips, strategies and analyses on her YouTube Channel, which has over 15,000 subscribers.
#5 Shay – The Humbled Trader
Shay developed her own trading strategy after losing $20,000 by following “chatroom gurus.” She went on to lay the foundation of the Humbled Trader Academy and a YouTube trading education channel that boasts over 1 million subscribers. A prominent mantra shared on the trading community is to not restrict yourself to any single trading style but remain flexible to utilise maximum opportunities in diverse market conditions.
#6 Jennifer Kempson
The Scottish trader is also an author, entrepreneur and award-winning trading content creator. Kempson is prominent on LinkedIn and is a renowned finance YouTuber and podcaster with a globally diverse portfolio of investments.
#7 Masi Trades
Masi chose full-time options trading despite her IT background and runs courses on her own website to educate people on becoming self-sufficient traders.
#8 Mandi Pour Rafsendjani
Respected among retail, professional and institutional investors, Rafsendjani specialises in DAX and forex trading. She also trades commodities, stocks and indices, using both futures and CFDs.
#9 Jane Gallina
This self-taught trader focuses on options trading, stocks and penny stocks. Gallina uses technical analysis as an integral part of her trading strategy, and that is what she urges beginners to excel at.
#10 Stephanie Link
Link is the chief investment strategist at Hightower Advisors and a regular contributor at CNBC, with expertise in securities, investment advisory and mutual funds trading.
Women are Disproportionately Absent from Trading
While most professions are increasingly ensuring gender parity, trading is lagging far behind. Women-led organisations have demonstrated impressive bottom lines for Fortune 500 companies, which highlights their exceptional multi-billion decision-making capabilities. The overall financial industry is also doing better, but the trading segment has a long way to go. Brokerages need to work towards improving inclusivity.
Women Make Better Traders
A controversial statement or scientific fact? Women have better impulse control, organisational skills and system discipline – three strong traits of an experienced trader. A study by Springer found that women are better at sensing danger, given their traditional societal role, which makes them careful risk takers.
- A 2012 study by Fintrader.net stated, “Think like a woman to succeed in trading.” It emphasises that women stick to their strategy and are measured. The discipline enables them manage fear and greed better.
- com’s 2021 study found that women are better at managing losses because they deposit funds more carefully into markets they properly understand.
- Women investors consistently outperform their male counterparts as they spend more time researching before making investment choices.
According to a Nasdaq report
Generally speaking, women are more patient and allow their investments to grow. This is important because frequently trading and acting on short-term fluctuations cultivate negative outcomes. In this regard, men could borrow a page from women.
It goes on to add:
Men, on the other hand, make more brash decisions and frequently focus on making a quick buck.
By the nature of their generational psychological training, women accept mistakes quickly, learn from them and modify their behaviours. Better trading experience means longevity of trading. Therefore, acquiring more women traders can improve trading activity, helping brokerages stabilise their revenue.
Marketing Campaigns Need an Upgrade
It’s critical that brokerages upgrade their content to accommodate women. If they want to attract more women traders that is! Here are 5 marketing upgrades to attract more women to trade with you.
#1 Have Women as Mouthpieces for Your Brokerage
Marketing to women should begin by adding women in your leadership team. Female traders, analysts and advisors on your panel can garner female attention and will also help steer your marketing ship in the right direction. Western Union Foundations’ marketing campaign in 2017 used diverse women (schoolgirls to be exact) to promote their Education for Better initiative and advertise their women-heavy customer-base. Microsoft’s #MakeWhatsNext campaign to enhance female participation in STEM subjects ensures that all advertisements are delivered by female artists. Be sure to follow top female traders from this list and the thousands more out there.
#2 Introduce Women Focused Strategies
There are many reasons women get into trading. The first might be financial freedom. Mire B. Acosta turned to trading for the lack of financial freedom. Further, the technical backing and the concept of ‘complete ownership’ drove her to cryptocurrencies as well. She is now a part of Binance, the world’s most active crypto exchange. She imparts crypto education from the platform. She emphasises that having control over her time is one of the reasons she prefers trading over any other profession. Such nascent markets attract Gen Zers and millennials, and demonstrating the success of women traders can improve conversions. Also, the potential for financial freedom can build on FOMO, which is a key driver for decision making today.
Other drivers include a desire to build longterm wealth, supplement an existing income and of course, the excitement and thrill of the markets.
#3 Use Persona Segmentation
Persona-based marketing is increasingly becoming critical; more so with trading, which has its own range of trader psyches. Thorough research of customer pain points, goals, leisure interests and modes of interacting with businesses can help you develop acquisition pipelines for each of them. Ensure that your marketing strategy and content address the diverse requirements of disparate personalities. This can be an advantage for your brokerage in acquiring a wide variety of clientele and add value to the inclusivity dimension.
You can promote stories of traders like Linda Bradford Raschke, whose love for trading comes from her interest in solving puzzles. Using the right approach for different kinds of women, based on persona segmentation funnels, can be helpful.
Consider the example of the Australian casino industry, which approached women with slower-paced advertisements and easier gaming options to give them “safer” entry points. For brokers, a similar approach can be followed, by demonstrating women discussing less risky strategies, for example.
#4 Maintain Consistency
Women read the fine print, trading conditions and are more detail oriented. Having a visually consistent marketing campaign may be easy on the eyes, but one that ensures consistent brand positioning is critical. Women are quicker to identify anomalies. Consistency has a strong impact on the female psyche as well.
#5 Support Trader Education
Kathy Donnelly, prop trader and co-author of The Lifecycle Trade, says:
Men are on a mission, women are on a journey.
Multiple studies have shown that women invest more time in learning before doing something. This is true for trading as well. Additionally, women who are yet to step into trading might believe that trading is a difficult domain. Simplifying basics and assuring them of trader support throughout their journey can help brokers build trader-education-friendly options for women traders. This can also be done by providing actionable insights and enriching marketing content with analytical reports to lend support to those insights. But be sure to provide a variety of levels and educational avenues. These might include podcasts, webinars, blogs, videos and social media.
Learn how to build a solid financial education centre here.
Should Forex Brokers Target Women? Drop us a tweet @_contentworks and tell us what you think. Contentworks is a women-led marketing agency with extensive expertise in the finance space. Book a FREE Zoom call with our team to learn how we can get more traders for your brokerage.