Gender Identity and Risk Tolerance: An Empirical Study of Investment Behaviour in Mutual Funds

Abstract

Mutual funds are nothing but a unique pulled collection of funds, managed by professional fund managers and diversified across a range of assets. A type of fund tends to reduce individual investors' exposure to risk. Under the domain of behavioural finance, nowadays it has been observed that studies about gender-specific biases have achieved momentum. Under that, this research explores the association between gender identity and investment behaviour in mutual funds, focusing on whether gender identity affects risk tolerance and investment decisions. To achieve the said objectives researchers attempted a descriptive and empirical methodology on the collected data from individual investors. Data has been collected through a well-structured questionnaire circulated in Kolkata, a district of West Bengal, India. To justify the hypotheses, statistical analysis applications like chi-square, Phi -Correlation, and Mann-Whitney tests have been used.

Results indicate that gender identity was found to not affect the investment of the mutual fund. This further proves that the male and female clients are not different in attitude. Besides, no significant difference in risk tolerance was found between genders. These findings challenge conventional beliefs about gender and risk tolerance, suggesting that factors beyond gender identity may shape individual financial behaviour. The study calls for further research, including the gender of third-category participants, to enhance understanding of gender’s role in financial decision-making.