Simran Kaur

Investment education options for women are limited, exacerbating the wealth gap

Because fewer than 25 percent of women worldwide invest their money, women often lag behind men in accumulating wealth. Many cultures do not encourage women to learn about and engage in financial management and investing.

Growing up in New Zealand, Girls That Invest co-founder Simran Kaur saw how the lack of financial education limited options for the women in her life. “I saw aunties and family friends who were being asked to stop working and raise children, even if that wasn't what they wanted to do. I had this strong realization that money equaled choices, and I wanted that for myself and for every woman.”

An online platform makes investing accessible and less intimidating

Even though Simran was aware of the life-changing power of money, she found few educational resources for young women—particularly women of color—who wanted to invest. The online resources she consulted were mostly targeted at men.

“When I was becoming an investor, I’d go to investing clubs, and the jargon was very specific to a certain type of investor,” Simran says. “I thought ‘Investing isn’t for me’ as opposed to ‘This style of investing isn’t for me.’”

To fill that need in a male-dominated industry, she created Girls That Invest in March 2020. Girls That Invest is an online platform that aims to close the wealth gap by teaching women of all ages and backgrounds about investing and finance in a way that is accessible, understandable, and unintimidating.

“Our motivation is to bridge the financial investment gap that disproportionately affects women,” Simran says. “This issue isn't just a statistic. It’s a barrier that has real-world impact.”

The company runs a popular podcast, offers online master classes, and maintains a supportive community tailored and curated to help women take charge of their money. It also hosts in-person events and workshops for people who prefer a more hands-on and interactive learning approach.

Investing podcast, classes, and community reach women around the world

Since its launch, the Girls That Invest podcast has been downloaded 8 million times. Nearly 7,000 women have participated in the six-week intensive master class.

“One woman told us that when she started listening to our podcast, she had US$8,000 to her name,” Simran says. “Within three years of taking the master class, she’d built up a nest egg of US$33,000 and could make a deposit on buying her first home.”

The company’s social media channels, which offer free educational resources, have been accessed by nearly 400,000 users and Simran’s book Girls That Invest has become a best-seller. A free weekly newsletter, “Stock Market Tea,” serves as a convenient digest of market trends and investment strategies.

Simran hopes to expand Girls That Invest to increase the number of global podcast listeners and plans to launch more community-based memberships. Simran explains their goal: “We want to make sure that as many women as possible around the world have access to an investing education so that they can create a life that’s on their own terms.”