The FührungsFrauen Westpfalz met on November 14, 2023 for the 4th network meeting on the premises of Sparkasse Kaiserslautern on Stiftsplatz to discuss the topic of female finance.
In her welcoming speech, Jutta Metzler (ZRW Board Member and IHK Vice President) explained what the term “female finance” means: “The idea is to encourage women to take control of their own financial future and strengthen their economic independence.”

“The structure of a financial and asset situation is as individual as our choice of clothes, matching the occasion or the situation we find ourselves in.” Claudia Engelmann, Board Representative of Sparkasse Kaiserslautern, sums it up with this suitable comparison. The event was organized and moderated by Stefanie Hartmann, Head of Private Banking at the Sparkasse, who had put together an informative and practical event and professionally guided the participants through the evening. Using a ChatGPT query, she first shed light on the topic of female finance, and the ChatRobot's suggestions were many and varied: ways to improve financial opportunities, investment options, financial independence, etc. However, the artificial intelligence also spit out one important point: Network building. And when even ChatGPT suggests building a network, all participants knew that they were in the right place.

However, as we didn't just want to know what the AI had to say about female finance, Jenny Ernst, Sales Director Private Banking at DekaBank, gave us an impulse. A look at DekaBank's latest figures shows that, contrary to some preconceptions, women play a major role in the world of finance. In 2021, for example, 42% of all founders and 31% of millionaires were female, and 70% of wealth will be transferred to women in the years to come.
A survey conducted by the Association of German Banks this year revealed that 70% of women consider security to be the most important factor when investing money. In addition, only half of the women surveyed felt sufficiently informed about finances, investments and pensions and only 38% of European women investors dared to take risks. In general, women want more transparency, information and professional support when investing than men.

When planning your finances, you should inevitably ask yourself the question: What moves the capital markets? Currently, it is the Middle East conflict, the Russia-Ukraine war, but also factors such as extreme weather. And despite all these factors, as well as inflation and rising interest rates, we have a robust global economy and the prospect of a key interest rate cut in the middle of next year, says the Sales Director. There are many ways to invest your money and it makes sense to look into them and find the right investment mix for you. The right time is NOW.

This was followed by a round of interviews with experienced women from the financial sector: Dagmar Stock, an independent wealth coach, likes to refer to a quote in her coaching sessions: “There are a thousand ways to spend money, but only two ways to earn it: either I work for my money or my money works for me.” As people are getting older and older and people want to avoid the risk of “your money is already gone and you're still here”, she points out that women should definitely address the issue of retirement early on. If you want to move your money, you also have to move yourself.
Olga Grob, tax consultant at the law firm Dr. Kling & Kollegen, specializes in asset restructuring and knows how important it is to take advantage of tax opportunities and deal with these matters at an early stage. To avoid tax traps, it is advisable to seek advice from experts. According to Jenny Ernst, it is interesting to note that the topic of sustainability in investments is very important to women. Women prefer to invest in sustainable investments, and identification with the investment is important to them.

The event provided participants with valuable information that motivated them to address the issue and take action. "Women who invest their money look more confidently into the future," said Jutta Metzler, summing up the 4th network meeting of FührungsFrauen Westpfalz with the results of a study by J.P. Morgan.