Millions of UK women believe investing is far harder than it really is — and that misconception, rather than any lack of money or opportunity, may be a key driver of Britain's £574bn gender investment gap, according to new research from trading platform eToro.

A nationally representative survey of 2,000 UK women found that 73% believe they would need to learn a great deal before they could start investing, 67% think it demands a serious time commitment, and 62% find the whole idea overwhelming. Yet women who already invest paint a very different picture: 69% say investing is made to sound more complicated than it is, and 63% found getting started easier than expected.


Regional stats North West:
61% do not invest
60% of women invest say it feels like a big time commitment
63% of women say investing feels too complex
62% of women say investing feels overwhelming
70% of women say they would need to learn a lot before getting started
Yorkshire & Humber:
55% do not invest
65% of women invest say it feels like a big time commitment
64% of women say investing feels too complex
64% of women say investing feels overwhelming
74% of women say they would need to learn a lot before getting started
North East:
72% of women do not currently invest
75% say investing feels like a big time commitment
69% say investing feels too complex
79% say they would need to learn a lot before getting startedTo test whether that gap in perception could be closed, eToro's Loud Investing campaign — fronted by former Lioness Jill Scott MBE and behavioural finance expert Dr Ylva Baeckström of King's Business School — assembled a team of eleven women for a first-of-its-kind experiment: seven days of structured learning, twenty minutes a day, covering the basics of risk, return and making a first investment. The trial was later extended to a further 141 women nationwide.

The results were striking. Before the challenge, half of participants described investing as very or extremely complex; afterwards, that fell to just 15%. The proportion who felt investing was "for people like me" more than doubled, from 34% to 71%, while those planning to invest within three months rose from 52% to 75%. Comfort with market risk climbed too, from 35% to 61%.

Dr Baeckström said the barrier for many women was not ability but exclusion from the knowledge needed to begin: "Our women didn't become investment experts in seven days, but their understanding shifted enough to make investing feel achievable." She added that women are less "risk averse" than commonly assumed, and more "risk aware" — keen to make informed decisions once given the tools to do so.

Jill Scott likened the process to learning football: "You don't start with all the answers, you learn, you grow and you get better by doing it. The hardest part is taking that first step."

Dan Moczulski, eToro's UK Managing Director, said the findings showed that breaking investing down into simple steps dramatically lowers the barrier to entry: "You do not need to be an expert to get started. You just need to take the first step."

Following the trial's success, eToro is now rolling out the 7-Day Loud Investing Challenge nationally, opening it to all UK women.