Huge surge in female investment in gold: Here’s how and three reasons why

More women than ever are buying gold bullion, and this increase is partly due to growing confidence in the investment, experts say.

High prices for the precious metal, combined with political uncertainty, have led to a boom in gold investment.

Now a British company that sells solid gold bars and coins to customers by mail order has reported record sales thanks to a sharp rise in female customers.

BullionByPost said women now make up an all-time high of 20 per cent of its customer base, an increase of 150 per cent in the past four years.

The bullion company said women were turning to gold for three main reasons:

1. Millennial and Gen Z women want to protect their money

BullionByPost said: ‘Gen Z and Millennials are now thinking about the future and ways to protect their wealth as they become more financially independent and the wage gap closes.

‘In mixed-sex households, women are also increasingly taking control of joint investments, unlike in previous generations, where this has traditionally been a privilege of men.’

2. The profile of gold is rising

Many women are driven to invest in gold by female influencers with platforms on TikTok and YouTube, bullion experts said.

3. Women tend to invest conservatively

BullionByPost said: ‘Studies have shown that women tend to be more conservative investors and take fewer risks, and generate better returns, than men.

“Precious metals, particularly gold, are seen as a safe haven and low-risk investment, which is attractive for this type of female investment. Women also tend to prefer long-term investments rather than impulse purchases, which fits perfectly with gold.”

Gold investment is growing in popularity among both genders due to the current global unrest, as the precious metal is seen as a safe place to invest money in uncertain times.

The most commonly sold bullion today tend to be smaller gold bars and coins.

BullionByPost said a 1g gold bar, roughly the size of a mobile phone SIM card, is worth around £60 and sales have risen 340 per cent in the past four years.

Meanwhile, a record 86 per cent of orders were for less than £2,000 over the past year.

The average order value on BullionByPost is now around £1400 (less than a 1oz bar or coin), and the top 10 best-selling product weights are all 1oz or less.

The figures are based on sales of almost 50 tonnes of gold bullion and coins worth £3bn, shipped to more than a quarter of a million customers across the UK over the past ten years.

BullionByPost CEO Pete Walden said: ‘The rise of social media investment channels is helping young female investors find new sources of information and education within the investment sector that they can relate to, increasing their confidence in how to invest their money as they become more financially independent.

‘While a gender gap in investing remains, the number of female investors has been growing steadily over the years across all investment classes.

‘Despite this, female investors tend to avoid assets linked to stocks or assets such as cryptocurrencies due to their inherent risk and tend to be attracted to the relative safety of cash, ISAs and savings accounts.

‘This tendency to avoid risk may be a key reason why physical gold is so attractive to female investors.’