Almost one in five (19%) women have said that the end of the financial year encourages them to invest, Hargreaves Lansdown has found.

In a survey of 7,500 savers and investors for its financially fearless report on why women invest, Hargreaves Lansdown also revealed that more than a quarter (26%) said that it’s the start of the new tax year that gets them investing.

The report found that women are creating wealth faster than any time in history and are set to inherit 70% of global wealth in the next two generations.

Furthermore, this is a trend that is likely to continue over the next decade.

Hargeaves Lansdown also found that the percentage of women who are breadwinners in the household has increased from 19.8% in 2004 to 23.3% in 2019.

However, it was female breadwinners aged 55 and over were the keenest to invest the earliest.

Head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, Sarah Coles, said: "Millions of people rush to invest at the end of the tax year, but new data shows that female investors are bucking the trend. They’re more likely to be inspired to get cracking by the fresh start of the new tax year – and they’re better off as a result.

"Some groups of women are particularly likely to be early birds. This includes female breadwinners – 32% of whom say they’re inspired by the start of the tax year, and just 23% by the end of the old one. Women aged 55 and older get in early too – 28% say they’re prompted by the start of the new tax year, compared to 18% who invest at the end of the tax year.

"And they’re joined by more seasoned female investors: 29% of those who have invested for five years or longer start early in the tax year – this compares to 19% of those who have invested for less than a year and 28% of those who have invested for one to five years."

---