Will Women Transform Investing? The Trillion-Dollar Shift in Wealth and Its Implications

A Question Inspired by the Numbers

Prompted by recent research from McKinsey & Company, a powerful question has emerged: Will women transform investing—and if so, what will it mean for the future of finance, society, and the economy? According to McKinsey’s landmark study, The New Face of Wealth: The Rise of the Female Investor (May 2025), women are rapidly increasing their share of investable assets and are reshaping the way wealth is held, managed, and deployed across the United States and Europe.

This development carries major implications—not just for wealth management firms, but for how capital is allocated, what values underpin investment decisions, and how inclusive and purpose-driven the financial system can become. At the Enlightened Enterprise Academy, we believe this shift could represent a long-overdue correction—and a hopeful sign of more human-centred approaches to capital in the years ahead.

The McKinsey Report: A Wake-Up Call for the Industry

The McKinsey report paints a vivid picture: women currently control about one-third of all retail financial assets in the US and EU—a share expected to rise to 40–45% by 2030. More strikingly, from 2018 to 2023, global financial wealth grew by 43%, while the share of wealth controlled by women increased by 51%.

Yet the opportunity remains largely untapped. An estimated 53% of female-controlled assets are unmanaged, compared to 45% for men. Bringing the managed share in line could unlock an additional $10 trillion by the end of the decade.

Despite these headline figures, McKinsey’s research reveals a wealth management industry that has been slow to adapt to this tectonic shift. Many institutions continue to treat women as an afterthought—offering outdated value propositions or failing to build real, trust-based relationships with female clients.

How Women Are Changing the Rules of the Game

The most transformative aspect of this trend is not simply the volume of wealth, but the way women are choosing to manage it. The McKinsey study highlights a number of consistent Behavioral patterns among female investors:

• Long-term orientation: Women focus on stability, security, and goal-based outcomes—especially retirement, healthcare, and maintaining lifestyle standards.

• ESG and purpose alignment: Women are more likely than men to prioritize environmental, social, and governance factors and seek impact alongside return.

• Advisory preference: Women want in-person, values-based financial advice, not transactional relationships or impersonal online tools.

• Growing confidence: Financial confidence is surging, especially among younger women. In Europe, for instance, confidence rose from 45% to 67% between 2018 and 2023.

Together, these preferences challenge the industry’s historic norms and point toward a more values-driven investing paradigm—one that aligns naturally with the vision of Enlightened Enterprise.