Women remain more risk averse than men when investing for pensions, according to new research from several Nordic pension companies released ahead of International Women’s Day.

Research conducted by Gjensidige, involving around 1,300 Nordic pension customers, found that only 47 per cent of women are willing to choose higher risk for higher returns, compared to 60 per cent of men. 

The figures varied by age, but men were still more willing to choose a higher risk for higher returns than women were.  

Among 18-34-year-olds, 63 per cent of men expressed a preference for riskier pension investments, while only 37 per cent of women shared the same sentiment.

This trend continued in the 35-56 age group, where 52 per cent of men prefer higher-risk investments compared to 35 per cent of women.

The gap between genders widened even further in the 57-65 age group, with just 11 per cent of women willing to take on more risk, compared to 43 per cent of men.

Research from Sampension, which surveyed approximately 1,000 Danes, highlighted a similar trend, as it found that less than a third of women are willing to increase investment risk in their pension savings to improve potential returns, whereas more than half of men are open to doing so.

Sampension’s survey asked respondents whether they would prefer their pension savings to be invested with a higher-risk that could potentially deliver higher long-term returns, compared with lower-risk investments that are expected to produce more stable but typically lower returns.

In response, 30 per cent of women surveyed answered yes, 43 per cent said no and 28 per cent said they did not know.  

Meanwhile, among men, 52 per cent answered yes, 36 per cent answered no and 12 per cent said they did not know. 

Sampension head of advisory, Helle Dalsgaard, said: “It is difficult to avoid the fact that there is a gender difference in Denmark when it comes to financial risk appetite. And it is also expressed in the question of how much risk the pension savings should be invested with. Because here, women are generally less inclined than men to choose more investment risk in order to get a higher expected return.” 

Dalsgaard explains that there can be several reasons behind this, but overall, women generally take a more cautious approach to investments, resulting in a possibly lower expected return over time, which ultimately has an impact on the size of their pension savings.  

“Therefore, women's lower risk appetite also contributes to their pension savings generally lagging behind men's. In addition, women's savings must also last longer, as they typically retire earlier and live longer than men,” she continued.  

Gjensidige research also showed an aversion to risk from women in other areas beyond investment, with 62 per cent of women stating that they are afraid of losing their savings compared to 46 per cent of men.
 
Four in 10 women noted they are also worried about their own future finances compared to three in 10 men, and 31 per cent of women said they cannot afford to save now compared to 24 per cent of men. 

Despite this, Gjensidige figures revealed that women are slowly but surely becoming more aware of their pension.   

Between 2023 and 2025, there was a 7 per cent improvement in the percentage of women who didn’t know how much their employer saves in pension for them and a 3 per cent improvement in the percentage of women who said they were poorly informed about the pension agreement they have through their employer.  

The figures also revealed that the proportion of women who said their employer’s pension plan was not important when changing jobs decreased from 33 per cent to 29 per cent.  

Gjensidige Pensjon investment analysis, Karoline Nakken, said: “It is very encouraging that the numbers are going in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go.  

“Women earn less on average than men and thus receive lower pension benefits. That is precisely why it is so important that they get an overview and make good choices. Women also live longer on average than men, and their pensions should therefore last even more years.  

“We also know that many women save for retirement in a bank account precisely because they are more concerned with security than returns. They lose out in the long run.” 

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