There continue to be gaps between men and women around financial and investment issues, concludes a US study that should be food for thought for the nation's wealth managers.

A Merrill Lynch study of 3,707 men and women in the US finds men are far more confident than women in managing investments, while the survey also highlights other gender gaps in how finances are viewed. When a woman reaches retirement age, she may have earned a cumulative $1,051,000 less than her male counterpart when accounting for the lifelong pay gap alongside common workforce interruptions, the report said.

Women are confident in most financial tasks, such as paying bills (90 per cent) and budgeting (84 per cent). However, when it comes to managing investments, their confidence drops significantly; 52 per cent of women say they are confident in managing investments, versus 68 per cent of men. Millennial women were the least confident at 46 per cent. Of women who do invest, their financial confidence soars; 77 per cent of women who invest feel they will be able to accumulate enough money to support themselves for life.

The study, conducted in partnership with Age Wave, a think tank, is entitled Women and Financial Wellness: Beyond the Bottom Line. It finds that 70 per cent of women think men and women have a fundamentally different life journey, reinforcing the need to better understand women’s financial concerns and opportunities. 

Among the respondents, 2,638 are women and the remaining 1,069 are men.

“Women have come a long way both personally and professionally, but when it comes to their finances, there is still a trail left to blaze,” Lorna Sabbia, head of retirement and personal wealth solutions for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said.

The study adds to debate about differences in investment, income, career advancement and other metrics between men and women that are becoming hot political and cultural discussion points in Western and other societies. With women increasingly important holders of financial assets, this fact isn't being lost on the wealth management industry. 

Longevity needs to be a factor in everyone’s financial strategy, but more so for women, who on average, live five years longer than men, as the survey authors note. Eighty-one per cent of centenarians are women. While 64 per cent of women say they would like to live to 100, few feel financially prepared, with 44 per cent of women stating they worry they will run out of money by age 80.

“In a period of remarkable advances for women in society, a remaining frontier is financial well-being,” Andy Sieg, head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. “It’s a basic component in the quality of life." 

Addressing women’s top financial regret: not investing more. Forty-one per cent of women say not investing more is their biggest regret. Women cite lack of knowledge (60 per cent) and confidence (34 per cent) as top barriers.