Research-Thesis: Are finance professionals immune to gender stereotypes when it comes to investing?

Abstract

This thesis investigates whether gender differences in investment behaviour persist when financial decisions are made in a professional context. While behavioural finance literature widely documents differences between male and female investors, most evidence is derived from individual investors or experimental settings. This study contributes to the literature by focusing exclusively on investment professionals, whose decisions are shaped by institutional constraints, standardised processes, and regulatory frameworks.

The analysis is based on original survey data collected from investment professionals and tests seven hypotheses related to risk tolerance, overconfidence, trading frequency, investment horizon, portfolio diversification, investment style, and ESG considerations. The empirical methodology combines descriptive statistics, appropriate parametric and non-parametric tests, and multivariate regression models using OLS and LOGIT specifications.

The results indicate that most gender differences identified in prior research are significantly reduced or disappear altogether in a professional setting. In particular, no statistically significant gender effect is found for overconfidence, trading frequency, or investment horizon once professional characteristics are controlled for. Portfolio composition and diversification patterns also appear largely similar across genders. Although some differences emerge in relation to ESG preferences and maximum acceptable loss, these effects remain modest in magnitude. These findings should nevertheless be interpreted in light of certain limitations, notably the survey-based nature of the data and the size and composition of the professional sample.

Overall, the findings suggest that the professional investment environment plays a key role in mitigating behavioural biases commonly associated with gender. Institutional constraints and regulatory oversight appear to promote more homogeneous investment behaviour, reducing the relevance of gender-based distinctions observed among non-professional investors. These results underscore the importance of context in behavioural finance research and contribute to ongoing discussions on gender diversity in the financial industry.