CBA’s Executive General Manager, Wealth & Private, Susie Grehl said: “The growth rate of women who are actively investing has outpaced men over the last three years by almost double. With that growth comes a need for education and content that is engaging, accessible, and meets women where they are on their own individual journey”.
“In the context of a historic intergenerational wealth transfer, at a time when the avenues to build wealth have never been greater and when more women are running the family business, there is an opportunity to help ensure there is access to financial education that gives women the tools they want and need on their own terms,” Ms Grehl said.
The first educational partnership is with Girls that Invest, and gives customers access to a new range of investment-focused content available on the CommBank website and through the CommBank app. This partnership offers CBA customers bite-sized guidance to supplement their existing investment knowledge or to guide them from the start of their investing journey.
Girls that Invest, founder, Simran Kaur said: “We are so excited to partner with CommBank and we hope that by sharing our content that we can make investing more accessible and enjoyable for women. Research from our masterclass students shows that education is the number one barrier that stops novice investors from getting started, so we hope that through this partnership we will see more women benefit and grow their money confidence".5
Commenting on the need for specific female support, Ms Grehl added: “We know women face unique factors which are often underrepresented in traditional thinking about wealth such as time spent out of the workforce or longer life expectancy. Our clients are confident, informed women who see investing as fundamental tool to achieving the life they want. They want content that is fresh, engaging, and jargon free.”
The second educational partnership led by Commonwealth Private is a collaboration with Sophia, a women-focused financial education platform. Through this exclusive partnership with Commonwealth Private marking Sophia’s debut in Australia the collaboration sees the launch of a 12-week program exclusively to meet the needs of Commonwealth Private clients and their families.
The program will offer a range of in-person networking opportunities and digital education designed to empower women to grow and manage their wealth at every stage. The tailored digital education program offered through Sophia’s online platform covers a broad range of topics over six modules, with a focus on supporting female clients as they manage and grow their money.
Sophia co-founder, Nicole Denholder said: “In our Sophia financial education survey, 82 per cent of respondents stated that investing and wealth management are one of the most valuable financial education topics6. Therefore we are excited to be working with Commonwealth Private in answering this call and engaging with their female customers on financial education.”
Ms Grehl said: “These educational partnerships enable participants to engage with the pieces of content that are most relevant to them and their needs, rather than requiring them to commit to a set curriculum or content series. This offers our choice and helps to meet each individual customer where they are at on their own journey.”
CBA will continue to explore options to support customers to improve their financial wellbeing.
About Girls that Invest
Girls That Invest, founded by Simran Kaur, is the world’s largest financial education platform dedicated to empowering women to take control of their financial futures. Through engaging online courses, podcasts, and content, Girls That Invest makes investing and financial literacy accessible, relatable, and inspiring for women globally. The platform aims to break down the barriers to financial education, encouraging women to confidently invest and build wealth. Learn more at www.girlsthatinvest.com.
About Sophia
Founded by gender finance veterans Christine Yu and Nicole Denholder, Sophia is a financial education platform providing digital, in-person and livestreamed financial and investing literacy programming made for women. Sophia works with companies to deliver programs which help them better engage with women employees and customers in their wealth creation journeys. Sophia makes finance and investing accessible, inspiring, and empowering for women in Asia and beyond. www.sophiawomen.com
1 Refers to CommSec account growth with investment holdings from 2021-2024.This compares with growth of CommSec accounts held by men at 10% during the same period
2 Refers to CommSec accounts with investment holdings as at 2024
3 This relates to CommSec accounts and investment balances held by women compared to those held by men
4 CBA research comprised of a nationally representative sample of 1,500 Australians, including 770 women, aged between 18 - 50, conducted online between the 3rd of December and the 13th of December 2023.
5 According to insights canvassed from Girls That Invest masterclasses in 2024
6 Sophia conducted a survey across female communities in Hong Kong and Singapore in February 2023 on women and their financial education and wealth management.
