Idaho Stockbrokers Report Women Do More Investing

With more successful women in business and on the job, an activity that used to be dominated by men has a growing number of female participants.

Women investors are making up a larger share of investing clubs and are asking more questions about investing.

Roughly equal proportions of men and women fundholders, 74 percent vs. 71 percent, now invest in stock funds, according to the Investment Company Institute. And both sexes allocate nearly equal percentages of their portfolios to equities: 47 percent for men, 46 percent for women.

“I see a lot of women taking control of their money,” said Nancy Finley, a stockbroker with Smith-Barney in Boise and San Francisco.

Ninety-six percent of women will be investing their own money at some point in their lives, said Mary Rowland, a financial journalist.

Jeffrey Graves, branch manager at Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. in Boise, said 45 percent of his clients are women.

About four of every 10 U.S. adults are involved in the stock market today. Thirty years ago, it was just two in 10.

Increased earning power is allowing more women to invest - 56 percent of the adult female population is working outside the home, compared with 32 percent in 1950.