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MAY 19, 2000 VOL. 27 NO. 19 | SEARCH ASIAWEEK What To Do With The Family Savings? Women are overcoming fear and prejudice to invest in stocks Maybe, thinks Takimoto Teruko, or maybe not. The 62-year-old housewife is attending a forum at the Tokyo Stock Exchange about investment basics run by a volunteer group. She has always kept her family's money in the safest possible places, like postal savings, but now she wonders if that is enough. "Interest rates on our savings are so low and my husband's retirement is nearing, and I'm worried about our economic situation after he stops working," she says. As she listens to the lecturer explain the ABC's of buying shares, it's all new. "I've never heard of all those terms," Takimoto sighs. So will she take the plunge? "I don't know yet," she says. But she will keep coming to the monthly seminars to learn more. Women in Japan traditionally control the household purse, and that often includes deciding where to place the family savings. The stock market, on the other hand, has been seen as a domain of men, not only because it is complex but be-cause it is a bit like gambling - something dirty. But more and more women are venturing into this unfamiliar realm. "The response was 20 times what I had expected," says Konya Fumiko, a senior economist at the Japan Securities Research Institute who launched the Women Investors' Association earlier this year. Konya's group holds seminars to help women understand investment and the economy. (Men protested about being excluded, and can now join as junior members.) She thinks women, even those who hitherto never read the financial pages, can become good investors. Simply by noticing a hot-selling product or a rapidly-expanding convenience store chain and reading up on the companies behind them, even novices might find promising stocks, she says. "People say housewives are distant from the economy, but housewives shop everyday, which is a real economic activity," says Konya. "You don't have to understand the national economy or foreign exchange theory. You can make investment decisions based on information you see with your own eyes and hold in your own hands." And women who do start investing quickly become quite knowledgeable about economic fundamentals, she adds. Konya has another goal as well. As an economist convinced that Japan has to have more investors if its economy is to grow, Konya wants to remove the prejudice many ordinary Japanese still hold against stock investing. "Horse racing improved its image by using women in television commercials," she points out with a smile. Attending the same seminar as Takimoto is Toshima Yoko, 40. Toshima had a head start when it comes to understanding investing - she is an assistant manager in a company that deals in financial futures. Tired of low bank deposit rates, she began buying shares five years ago, and now has several million yen in the stock market. Now she thinks investing is interesting, educational, even exciting. "I would like to increase my stock holdings to as much as half of my assets," Toshima says. "I love markets." Her future, and Japan's future, depends on whether that love affair blossoms. By Jonathan Sprague and Murakami Mutsuko/Tokyo Write to Asiaweek at mail@web.asiaweek.com
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