Women presence in stock market on the decline

Despite a growing presence of women almost in all economic sectors across the country, their participation in the capital market has been declining over years.

While women are increasingly taking up prominent positions in various sectors, including the stock market, the number of female beneficiary owner (BO) account holders plummeted by over 35 per cent over five years.

The number of female BO account holders dropped to 4.73 lakh in March 2023 from 7.33 lakh in March 2018, according to data sourced from the bourses.

Given that more women are taking on leadership roles in the country’s financial industry, this trend is raising concern over female partnership in the capital market.

To ensure gender parity, the government for the first time appointed Dr Rumana Islam as the female commissioner of the securities regulator Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) last year.

Besides, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) also partnered with the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the UN Women to promote gender equality and encourage the participation of women on the boards of companies listed on the DSE.

While there have been several positive developments, the presence of women on listed companies’ boards also remains low with only 18 per cent of board members being female till 2018.

Meanwhile, in terms of independent directors, only 30 out of 610 independent directors were female till 2018.

The prime reason, as per experts, for the lower women’s participation in the stock market, is the lack of confidence to take risks. This is something that needs to be addressed, as it is holding women back from taking advantage of the stock investment opportunities, they opined.

Dr Rumana Islam has stressed the need to overcome this lack of confidence and encourage women to invest prudently in the stock market.

Girls can start investing a part of their wealth received from their fathers, husbands, or earned through other sources, she said.

It is also imperative to change the mindset that capital market investment is a short-term strategy to earn quick profits. This attitude has discouraged many women from investing, as they prefer to take fewer risks when it comes to saving and making financial decisions.

Women need to be educated on the long-term benefits of stock market investment, and how it could be a valuable tool for wealth accumulation.

Although there has been tremendous progress in ensuring gender equality and women’s participation in the workforce, necessary steps need to be taken to support and encourage women to hold leadership positions in the financial industry and to address the lack of confidence that prevents women from making stock market investments, experts said.

As more women take up leading positions in the stock market and the financial sector, this would inspire more women to invest in the stock market and take advantage of the opportunities it presents, they added.