Background
A quiet but powerful shift is taking place in global wealth, and women are increasingly shaping it.
For generations, wealth management has been built on the assumption that men are the primary financial decision-makers. Today, across the world, a powerful shift is underway in the creation, management, and intergenerational transfer of wealth, with women playing an increasingly influential role as stewards of capital.
Recognising this evolution as a fundamental transformation in how wealth is created and managed, Anchor Capital launched the Women’s Wealth Within initiative in 2025, creating a platform for women to engage more confidently in financial planning and investment decisions.
The global perspective
Across developed markets (DMs), women already control around one-third of all financial assets, and this influence is expected to rise substantially over the next decade. According to a 2025 report by McKinsey & Company titled The New Face of Wealth, women controlled an estimated US$60trn in assets globally by 2023. Between 2018 and 2023, wealth controlled by women grew faster than overall global financial wealth.
McKinsey identifies four key drivers behind this rise.
- Social change: Women are marrying later, divorcing more frequently and increasingly choosing to remain single, contributing to greater financial independence.
- Education and careers: Women are achieving higher levels of education and entering better-paying professions, enabling them to build substantial wealth in their own names.
- Longevity: Women tend to live longer than men, often resulting in family wealth transferring into their hands later in life. This makes it essential for women to be involved in family financial discussions and decision-making from the very beginning.
- Cultural change: Women are becoming increasingly confident in managing their finances and participating in financial markets. This is one of the most important shifts as women play a more active role in building, managing and directing capital, the investment landscape itself is evolving.
Together, these forces point to a profound demographic shift in financial power. Over the coming decades, trillions of US dollars are expected to transfer from husbands to widows and from parents to daughters, placing women at the centre of generational wealth stewardship.
The South African perspective
While much of the data comes from DMs, the same trend is evident locally. In a 2025 women-focused investment article, Satrix highlighted that nearly 43% of South African households are headed by women, while female participation on retail investment platforms has increased meaningfully in recent years. Younger women are also entering the investment market earlier, with the average female investor on their platform now in her early thirties.
Despite this progress, a gap remains. Women are still less likely than men to work with wealth managers, and a meaningful portion of female-controlled assets remains unmanaged. This suggests that the industry has not fully adapted to the needs of women investors.
The industry gap
Part of the disconnect lies in how wealth management has traditionally been positioned. Historically, we see focus placed on technical products, short-term performance and market volatility. While there is, of course, a place for this in everyone’s portfolio, male or female, in general, a woman approaches investing differently.
A different financial journey
Women’s financial journeys often differ in meaningful ways from those of men. On average, women live longer, are more likely to take career breaks linked to caregiving responsibilities and still tend to earn less over a lifetime. The result is often longer retirement periods, supported by smaller accumulated savings pools, making careful planning particularly important.
Investment behaviour also tends to differ. Many women anchor their investment decisions around long-term life goals such as financial independence, family security, education funding and generational wealth continuity. This often leads to a more disciplined and consistent approach to investing, with a focus on long-term outcomes rather than short-term market movements.
These behaviours can be powerful drivers of long-term compounded returns.
Confidence and engagement
Confidence has historically been a barrier to greater participation in investing. Many women have felt less confident engaging with financial markets even when they possess the knowledge and ability to do so successfully. Encouragingly, that dynamic is changing. Greater access to financial information, improved financial literacy, and stronger representation in financial leadership are helping more women take an active role in managing their wealth.
The generational wealth conversation
Anchor’s Women’s Wealth Within initiative brings together investors, financial professionals and thought leaders to discuss the opportunities and challenges women face in building and preserving wealth. At our first Women’s Wealth Within event, financial journalist Maya Fisher-French spoke about what she calls the “Cinderella Complex”, the quiet belief many women carry that someone else, whether a husband, father or advisor, will take responsibility for managing financial matters. The reality is that, at some point, most women will manage their finances.
She reminded us that women often play the role of holding families together, caring for children and parents and managing the emotional fabric of households while sometimes remaining one step removed from the financial ‘balance sheet’.
Her message was not one of vulnerability, but of ownership. A powerful reminder that most women will manage their own finances at some point in their lifetime. Wealth often transfers to women first, and the family’s financial future eventually becomes theirs to navigate.
Women are not only inheriting wealth, but they are also increasingly building it. Through careers, entrepreneurship, disciplined saving and long-term investing, women are becoming central architects of family prosperity. With that responsibility comes important questions:
What am I building to support myself?
What will this mean for my children?
How do I ensure this wealth supports the next generation?
Generational wealth does not happen by accident. It requires careful planning, thoughtful investment strategies and ongoing collaboration between families and trusted financial advisors who understand and support women’s unique journeys.
Anchor Capital’s approach
At Anchor Capital, the growing influence of women in wealth management has reshaped our perspective. We start with a simple premise: investment strategies should reflect real lives, not just markets. This means understanding each client’s circumstances, priorities and long-term goals, and designing portfolios that balance long-term growth with flexibility backed by disciplined investment processes, ongoing insights, and close client relationships.
Women’s investment needs often reflect unique life paths, including considering longer time horizons, evolving liquidity needs and responsibilities such as supporting children, ageing parents or extended family structures.
Traditionally, women are thought to be inherently more risk-averse than men. Research suggests, however, that many pursue moderate to growth-oriented investment strategies. The distinction lies in approach: women tend to invest with discipline, adhere to long-term plans, and avoid unnecessary portfolio turnover. These behaviours can become powerful drivers of compounded returns over time.
We support this long-term perspective through tailored portfolio construction, ongoing market insights and open client dialogue, ensuring strategies stay aligned with both financial goals and life priorities.
Knowledge creation is central to building confidence. Through initiatives like Anchor’s Women’s Wealth Within, we provide education, meaningful insights and a platform for conversation, helping women engage actively with their investments and make informed decisions for their financial futures.
Our approach is built on partnership:
You create wealth through your work, businesses, discipline and vision.
We protect it with thoughtful structuring, tax-aware planning and investment strategies tailored to your circumstances.
We grow it through disciplined investing and strategic asset allocation aligned with your individual goals.
When capital changes hands, influence follows. The way people choose to invest shapes where money flows, where money flows shapes industries, and industries shape economies. As prosperity increasingly shifts toward women, the investment landscape will inevitably change with it.
Looking to the future
The rise of women investors is not simply a demographic trend but one of the most important structural shifts taking place in global wealth management. As wealth increasingly moves into women’s hands, the way capital is invested, protected and transferred across generations will continue to evolve. At Anchor Capital, we are committed to partnering with women on that journey, providing the insight, structure and investment expertise needed to help turn financial ambition into lasting, generational wealth.
