What is it with women that they are often associated with furry animals such as playful kittens and bunnies; or nasty vixens, shrews, and bitches; and, worst of all, tigresses and cougars on the prowl? But when it comes to investing, what is your inner animal? Surely, inside every woman there is an inner investment animal that is just waiting to roar, or meow, as it were. Does it really take a ferocious roar to unleash the female inner investment genius that, unbeknownst to them, may lie dormant and silenced?

According to this article, Australian scientists may have identified the male ‘fight or flight’ SRY gene, only found on the Y chromosome that clearly contrasts with the oestrogen-linked ‘cuddle hormone’ in females named oxytocin. Does this mean women are incapable at roaring in the investment jungle? Certainly not these 7 Outstanding Female Investors Who Fought Their Way To The Top, each in their own way are roaring investment tigresses worthy of emulation. Notably, they share the common experience of having been rejected, ignored and ostracized in a male dominated financial and investment world.

But apparently, this financial world is changing and more women are learning the ropes about investing and are willing to share their experiences in the typical “tend and befriend” response of their gentler gender. Two Canadian women have made their online sisterhood flourish through a personal financial website goldengirlfinance.ca. They also wrote a book “It’s Your Money, Honey”, deemed a girl’s guide to saving, investing, and building wealth at every age and life stage, seem girlishly fashionable. So, is the female investment animal a roaring tigress or is she a cuddly kitten?

Well, just when you think you know the answer, someone writes a book, “Warren Buffett Invests Like a Girl and Why You Should Too”, and it turns out that “investing like a girl” is a good thing as it refers to Buffett’s “even temperament — calm, disciplined, patient, realistic. The result: long-term investing success.” In the book, the following eight traits summarises Buffet’s “girly” investment approach; Female investors tend to: • Trade less than men do. • Exhibit less self-confidence • Shun risk more than male investors do. • Be less optimistic, and therefore, more realistic, than their male counterparts. • Put in more time and effort researching possible investments. • Be more immune to peer pressure. • Learn from their mistakes. • Have less testosterone than men do (thus less willing to take extreme risks)

For one woman, Sara Blakely, reliance on word of mouth and woman-to-woman advice has helped her laugh all the way to the world’s youngest self-made woman on the Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list. There is a lot to be said for 41-year-old Blakely who, according to this Wall Street Journal article; “…..owns 100% of private company Spanx, has zero debt, has never taken outside investment and hasn’t spent a nickel on advertising.” There is a lot to be said for “girl power” when it comes to investing in a product that appeal to women. Like Blakely, even if you didn’t get help from a husband or an inheritance, in the financial jungle it is clearly obvious that the female gender needs to find the voice of her inner investment animal.

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