Women Empowerment in Investing: Trends and Growth in Mutual Funds

As of December 2024, the number of women who sell mutual funds in India has reached a total of 37,376. This means women now make up 21.5% of all mutual fund sellers in the country, according to a study by Crisil and the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

The study explains that having good investment advice and support can really help shape how women invest. More and more knowledgeable women distributors are probably why many women are starting to invest for the long term.

Over the past five years, the percentage of women investors who prefer holding onto their investments for over five years has grown from 8.8% in 2019 to 21.3% in 2024. This shows that women are becoming more patient and focused on building wealth. In the same timeframe, the share of women investors’ money in accounts open for less than a year went down from 40.5% to 25.4%. Men also showed a similar trend, reducing their short-term investments from 42.2% to 27%.

Currently, one in every four people who invest in mutual funds is a woman. This reflects the increasing empowerment of women in making financial choices, highlighting their growing role in investing.

The total value of investments made by women has jumped more than double—from Rs 4.59 lakh crore in March 2019 to Rs 11.25 lakh crore in March 2024. Women now account for about Rs 33 out of every Rs 100 invested in mutual funds.

A study shows that over the years, women have increased the size of their investments. The average investment amount for women went up by 23%, growing from 100 to 123. In contrast, men’s investment sizes only grew by 5%, from 100 to 105.

Women now represent 25.1% of all mutual fund investors and hold 33.2% of the total amount invested in mutual funds. This means women are investing larger sums compared to men.

In March 2024, women investors in smaller cities are making up a larger part of the total women investors’ funds, moving from 20.1% in 2019 to 25.2% now. Younger women below 35 years old in these cities have also increased their share of investments significantly, making up 15.1% of the total.

Women’s interest in stock investments (equity) has also grown, increasing from 43.3% to 63.7% of their total investments. They are also shifting how they invest in stocks, with less in large companies and more in smaller companies, jumping from 6.2% to 10.2%.

Women have become more interested in investing in passive strategies (like index funds) from 2.5% in 2019 to 4.1% in 2024. They also increased their investments in gold using electronic methods, with their share jumping from 5.2% to 24.9%.

However, their investments in debt funds (like bonds) have declined, from 22.6% to 10.7%.

Women’s investments through Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) have skyrocketed by 319.3% since 2019, making up over 30.5% of total SIP investments now. This trend shows women are more often adopting SIPs to invest regularly.

Lastly, more women are choosing direct investment plans, which increased from 14.20% to 20.33%. The younger generation of women, especially those aged 25-44, are leading this change.