Britain is a nation of savers.
Whilst most savers in the US hold 33% of their wealth in shares and mutual funds, Brits allocate just 8% of their wealth to investments. If we were to invest like Americans, we could unlock £3.5 trillion for our economy. It’s a huge missed opportunity.
Investing – with its long-term horizon – is one of the best ways to see returns on your capital and shore up financial security for the future, despite inevitable market fluctuations. In the wake of recent global economic volatility, it’s never been more critical to empower UK adults to build long-term wealth. Far from being a signal to step back, I see recent events as a pivotal inflection point which I hope will inspire a new generation of investors, and women in particular, to wake up to the power of investing and decide to step in.
With the rise of new fintech tools positioned to make investing easier and to close the “advice gap”, women (a group historically underrepresented and underserved in financial markets) could become one of the most influential investor cohorts of the next decade. By the end of 2025, it is estimated that the majority of household wealth in the UK will be in female hands.
The gender investing gap
This won’t be an immediate shift. Thanks to years of institutional and structural inequality, the investing landscape has long skewed male; and this takes work to address.
A key barrier is the gender pension gender gap: there is a 35% difference between what women have typically saved for retirement compared to men. This gap is driven by the gender pay gap – which currently sits at 7% in the UK – and compounded by women being more likely to take career breaks, work part-time and taking on caring responsibilities which impact their pension contributions. This worsens fiscal inequality and can impact their financial freedom later in life. It also creates a financial confidence gap.
Fintech itself isn’t perfect, either. Historically, it’s been led by men with access to education, advice and tools to engage with investing. Whilst fintech has technically made investing available to everyone, it still requires knowledge, awareness and a sense that it’s “for you”. The way many traditional investing platforms are built and marketed means women are significantly under-represented on these platforms.
Research by Boring Money shows that there are currently 3.3 million more male than female investors in the UK alone, with just a third of women feeling confident investing, compared to more than half of men.
Increasing numbers of women in fintech are helping to close this gap by ensuring investing offerings are designed to be inclusive, kickstarting the flywheel and building a generation of female investors.
Fintech as a financial equaliser
Fintech is uniquely positioned to disrupt this status quo: not just by digitising traditional services, but by redesigning them around women’s behaviours and needs. Everything from branding and website copy to app design and how investment risks and outcomes are presented can make a huge difference to how inclusive and accessible investing feels. The more diverse the teams are who work on these products, the more inclusive investing solutions will become.
Organisations like Female Invest and The Curve are doing great work to close the financial literacy gap, combining investment tools with community-led financial education and financial coaching specifically designed to get women comfortable with investing. Some organisations are starting even earlier: Blackbullion helps students master money management, whilst GoHenry teaches kids and teens about money and financial independence.
The way we’re investing is also changing. Fintechs like Revolut are integrating investment platforms like Upvest’s Investment API into their customer product offering to make investing as easy as spending money. Within these platforms, the introduction of “robo-advice” to guide investors to diversified investment options, low fee investing, fractional trading in stocks and ETFs, and customisable auto-investment plans make it easier than ever for first-time investors to engage and build diversified portfolios, no matter the capital they have to invest.
Beyond lowering barriers to entry, these platforms are reshaping the narrative around how we manage our money, who an ‘investor’ is and what investing can look like.
The multiplier effect: when women build, markets follow
Even bigger than that, fintech is creating a new generation of female financial leaders; changing not just who fintech serves, but who’s building it.
From Starling to Nubank, Ellevest and Sequin, we’re seeing more and more women leading the fintech charge; and I hope this number will continue to grow. Whilst women represent just 1.5% of fintech founders, we make up a third of the fintech workforce, with women also spearheading leading investment businesses like the London Stock Exchange and Aviva. At Upvest, we’re seeing more and more of our client teams being led by women and the UK team is currently over 50% female. I’m excited to see how this translates into more inclusive products and customer communication.
It’s my belief that as more women ascend to leadership roles in fintech, the industry will evolve from the inside out.
When women are at the table when it comes to designing financial products, they build tools that cater to women’s experiences. More inclusive experiences benefit everyone, making investing accessible to more men as well as women. This doesn’t just democratise access, it multiplies impact and opens the door for the next generation of female fintech founders and investors to walk through.
The convergence of a changing economic reality, fintech innovation and the growing financial influence of women is a rare and exciting alignment of forces. Whether you’re investing £10 or £10,000, today’s tools are more powerful, personalised, and inclusive than ever before. Communities, content and platforms now exist to support almost every kind of investor — whatever your background, goals, or starting point.
This new era of investing isn’t just more accessible – it’s finally designed to feel like it’s for you. So if you’ve been waiting for the right moment, this is it.
