The Investing Advice Dragons’ Den’s Deborah Meaden Wishes More Women Knew

Most conversations about women and money open with a gap and close with a lecture.  

Dragons’ Den investor Deborah Meaden has a more personal approach to the subject. She’s particularly aware of the importance of first steps. She believes that for many women the binding constraint is how many years pass before they decide to take investment action.  

Her thoughts are worth delving into for all investors… 

Key Takeaways 

• Deborah Meaden says starting matters more than the amount, so begin with a sum so small it’s irrelevant, such as $10 a week. 
  
  
• Holding too much cash while inflation outpaces interest rates means allowing your money to lose its value. 
  
  
• Women made up half of the 1.2 million Australians who started investing between 2020 and 2023, but still hold smaller portfolios and superannuation balances than men.
  
  
• Studies from Fidelity, Warwick Business School and Barber and Odean link women’s lower trading frequency to stronger returns. 
  
  
• Automated contributions, low-minimum ETFs and investing in areas you find interesting can help you start and stay invested. 
  
  

What Deborah Said 

Meaden, 67, told the Second Act podcast that generations of women handed investing decisions to a partner, then found themselves holding cash after a divorce or a death with no framework for what came next.  

Her remedy is simple: start with an amount so small it is boring.  

For example, $10 a week or $10 a month is enough to get started.  

Learn the vocabulary without embarrassment, because compound interest is not intuitive to anyone the first time they meet it. 

Be wary of holding too much cash. Money left in a bank account while inflation runs ahead of the interest rate is not being protected. In her words: ‘You’re deciding to allow your money to lose its value.’ 

She also made a point that has nothing to do with markets and everything to do with personal growth: mistakes should be examined once, then let go of.  

Investors who carry every past loss as proof that they are unsuited to investing tend to stay out of the market the longest. Yet time out of the market is one of the most expensive mistakes investors make. 

The Australian Gap Is Narrowing 

Some encouraging local news first: female investors are no longer missing from the Australian market.  

The ASX Australian Investor Study found that half of the 1.2 million Australians who started investing between 2020 and 2023 were women.  

And in the ASX’s September 2026 Investor Update, Stockspot reported that women now make up almost half its client base, up from about a quarter in 2015, with the number of new female clients under 35 rising 27% over the past year.  

‘Younger women are not waiting for a partner or a large lump sum before getting started.’ – Chris Brycki, Stockspot 

But There Are Still Gender Equality Challenges to Be Overcome 

While female participation is improving in the local market, scale is not keeping pace.  

ASX research estimates women make up 42% of Australian investors against 58% for men, with 64% of Australians who have never invested being female.  

Average portfolio balances tell the rest of the story: $413,000 for women against $667,000 for men, with 31% of female investors holding less than $50,000 compared with 21% of male investors.  

Even among younger investors, the pattern holds.  

Stockspot’s median balance for women under 35 is $11,921, against $15,056 for men in the same bracket. 

It’s similar with superannuation.  

ASFA research puts the average male balance at $192,119 against $154,641 for women, and the Super Members Council notes that by her early 60s the median woman is $51,000 behind.  

Against ASFA’s comfortable retirement benchmark of $630,000 for a single homeowner, that shortfall is significant. 

Caution Is Not the Problem 

Here’s the angle that often gets lost in this discussion: the investing behaviours most commonly attributed to women are, in fact, the behaviours associated with strong long-term performance. 

Case in point: Fidelity’s analysis of more than 5 million customer accounts over a decade found women outperformed men by 0.4% p.a.  

Warwick Business School tracked 2,800 Barclays investors over 36 months and found a gap closer to 1.8% p.a., driven by trading frequency and a lower appetite for speculative, lottery-style shares. The women in that study traded 9 times a year versus 13 times for the men.  

Barber and Odean reached the same conclusion decades earlier, finding that men traded 45% more often and gave up about 1.4% p.a. of performance doing so. 

There is also a behavioural cost to the over-engagement that men, on average, display. Checking a portfolio constantly tends to increase anxiety without improving returns, and frequent trading has a habit of shading into something closer to gambling. 

In other words, the challenge is not how Australian women invest.  

It’s how long they wait to start, and how much they leave in cash. 

What Starting Small Looks Like 

Starting your investment journey is more about the first step than it is about a specific dollar amount. 

That first step is unique to you. It could be $10, $100 or $1,000. 

Thankfully, with so many ETFs offering low-to-zero minimum initial investment requirements, investors can truly customise their first steps. 

Moreover, regular automated contributions, a practice usually described as dollar-cost averaging, remove the need to guess at timing. 

Meaden also recommends investing in something you find interesting to ensure you remain engaged.  

That might be global equities, a sustainable equity strategy aligned to the issues you care about or Australian equities tied to the local economy you know well.  

Interest is what keeps people invested through the ugly years, and staying invested is most of the game. 

Where to Take It from Here 

If Meaden’s advice reduces to one idea, it’s that the decision to start investing is more important than the decision about what to buy first.  

Begin with an amount you don’t need in the short term, automate your contributions so the timing question disappears, and let your good habits do the work that market timing cannot.  

Get your idle cash off the sidelines, because inflation devalues it over time.  

Anchor your first position to something you are interested in, then diversify around it rather than through it.  

Check your superannuation with the same attention you give the rest of your money, because for most Australian women it is still the largest investment portfolio they own.  

And when you get something wrong, and you will, treat it as information rather than a verdict on your investing ability. 

As ever, the habits that make a good investor are patience, low turnover and a willingness to stay the course. Australian women already have them. What they mostly need is a start date.  

Frequently Asked Questions 

What Is Deborah Meaden’s Investing Advice for Women? 

Meaden told the Second Act podcast that women should start with an amount so small it is boring, learn investing vocabulary without embarrassment, avoid holding too much cash and let go of past mistakes after examining them once. 

How Much Money Do You Need to Start Investing in Australia? 

There is no set amount. Many ETFs have low-to-zero minimum initial investment requirements, so a first investment could be $10, $100 or $1,000. Regular automated contributions, known as dollar-cost averaging, can then build your position over time. 

Are Women Better Investors? 

Several studies suggest so. Fidelity found women outperformed men by 0.4% p.a., while Warwick Business School found a gap of 1.8% p.a., driven largely by women trading less often and making fewer speculative bets. 

Why Is Holding Too Much Cash a Risk? 

When inflation runs ahead of the interest rate on a bank account, cash loses purchasing power. Because inflation devalues idle money over time, Meaden describes holding too much cash as a decision to let your money lose its value. 

How Big Is the Superannuation Gap Between Women and Men? 

According to ASFA, the average superannuation balance is $192,119 for men and $154,641 for women. The Super Members Council notes that by her early 60s, the median woman is $51,000 behind. 

Disclaimer: This article is prepared by Simon Turner. It is for educational purposes only. While all reasonable care has been taken by the author in the preparation of this information, the author and InvestmentMarkets (Aust) Pty. Ltd. as publisher take no responsibility for any actions taken based on information contained herein or for any errors or omissions within it. Interested parties should seek independent professional advice prior to acting on any information presented. Please note past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.