Muddy Stilettos

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2560" height="1991" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Woman-money-umbrella--scaled.jpg" alt="Woman money umbrella" class="wp-image-128381" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Woman-money-umbrella--scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Woman-money-umbrella--600x467.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Woman-money-umbrella--1000x778.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Woman-money-umbrella--1536x1195.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Woman-money-umbrella--2048x1593.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></figure>



If 2025 was the year we perfected our Pilates teasers and finally remembered to take our Vitamin D,&nbsp;2026 is the year we extend the wellbeing glow-up to our finances. We’ve long treated wellbeing as Mind, Body and Soul – but the truth is that&nbsp;wealth health belongs right there too. A comfy bank balance won’t fix everything, but it&nbsp;will&nbsp;cushion the blow when life inevitably goes a bit tits up.



And because we’re committed to cutting through the money fog, we’ve picked the brains of&nbsp;FTSE 100-listed investment trust&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alliancewitan.com/?utm_source=muddy-stilettos&amp;utm_medium=engagement&amp;utm_campaign=sponsorship" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alliance Wita</a><a href="https://www.alliancewitan.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">n</a>&nbsp;– proud sponsors of Muddy’s <a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/wellbeing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Happy + Healthy</a> initiative, and experts at making long-term, diversified investing accessible and female-friendly. So, to kick-start our Investment Era, here are&nbsp;five things every woman needs to know before she starts putting her money into stocks and shares.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-women-are-already-great-investors-even-if-we-don-t-feel-like-it">Women are already great investors (even if we don’t feel like it)</h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2560" height="2024" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FASHION-WOMAN-IN-CAR-scaled.jpg" alt="FASHION WOMAN IN CAR" class="wp-image-128383" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FASHION-WOMAN-IN-CAR-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FASHION-WOMAN-IN-CAR-600x474.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FASHION-WOMAN-IN-CAR-1000x791.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FASHION-WOMAN-IN-CAR-1536x1215.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FASHION-WOMAN-IN-CAR-2048x1620.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></figure>



If you&#8217;re already investing, we salute you – you&#8217;re in a small but perfectly-formed club. But, if, like us, you&#8217;re new to the investing game and want to create a financial cushion for when life throws you a curveball, then read on, because women make&nbsp;excellent&nbsp;investors. Firstly, women check their portfolios less often. Only 7% of us look weekly, compared with 13% of men – who, frankly, may need to step away from the app. Alliance Witan’s experts point out that this calmer rhythm means women often make less impulsive decisions that can adversely affect long-term returns. Less noise, more nuance. Maybe that&#8217;s also why research shows women are far less likely to sell at a loss than men – 48% of women admit to it versus a rather panicky 66% of men¹. That one behaviour alone is investing gold dust: once you sell at a loss, the damage is locked in.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-you-don-t-need-a-big-pot-to-begin">You don’t need a big pot to begin</h3>



One of the common misconceptions Alliance Witan&nbsp;encounters is the idea that investing is something you do once you ‘have enough money&#8217;. Enough for what, exactly? A yacht? A second kitchen island?&nbsp;



Modern platforms now let you start with teeny-tiny amounts – literally £1 – thanks to micro-investing tools and fractional shares. Start sooner, even with pocket-change amounts, and you give compounding (the Beyoncé of financial forces) more time to work its magic. And yes, markets can go down as well as up – this is investing, not sorcery – but the principle remains beautifully simple: perfection isn’t required, consistency is.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-learn-the-lingo">Learn the lingo</h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2560" height="1442" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Finance-money-terms-in-Scarabble-scaled.jpg" alt="Scrabble board with finance terms spelt out" class="wp-image-128385" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Finance-money-terms-in-Scarabble-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Finance-money-terms-in-Scarabble-600x338.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Finance-money-terms-in-Scarabble-1000x563.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Finance-money-terms-in-Scarabble-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Finance-money-terms-in-Scarabble-2048x1154.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></figure>



If there’s one thing guaranteed to spook even the most enthusiastic first-time investor even more than the finance bro vests, it’s jargon. Nothing kills confidence quite like a cheery &#8216;You can hold that inside a Stocks &amp; Shares ISA depending on your risk appetite&#8217; when all you wanted was to know where to put £50 a month without breaking out in hives. So, here&#8217;s what you need to know and what it really means.



Let’s start with&nbsp;investment trusts, because Alliance Witan is one. Essentially, it&#8217;s a company you can buy shares in. That company then pools money from numerous investors and uses it to invest in a broad mix of assets – in Alliance Witan’s case, it’s shares in&nbsp;other companies across the globe, but other investment trusts might invest in property, infrastructure or private equity. In short, you buy shares in the trust; the trust buys lots of things on your behalf; your money gets spread around to help manage risk.



Now, onto&nbsp;ISAs&nbsp;– specifically&nbsp;Stocks &amp; Shares&nbsp;ISAs, because that’s one of the places&nbsp;investment trusts fit (they can also go in your pension). An ISA (Individual Savings Account) is simply a tax-sheltered wrapper. You can hold investments such as investment trusts inside one, and you won’t pay UK income tax or capital gains tax on your returns. That’s why ISA allowances matter: they decide how much you can tuck away tax-free each year. A&nbsp;Junior ISA (JISA)&nbsp;is for children, and a&nbsp;Lifetime ISA (LISA)&nbsp;exists to help adults save for their first home or retirement – though not every LISA provider allows you to pick specific investments, so you need to check.



Then there’s&nbsp;diversification, the word the financial markets throw around like confetti. It simply means not putting all your eggs in one basket – or, more accurately, not using the&nbsp;same kind of basket. You spread your money across different types of investments – shares, bonds, funds and property are the norm, but for some, cars, wine, art and designer handbags appeal – so if one bit dips, another may balance it out. In Alliance Witan’s case, the diversification is across several investment managers buying shares in companies across different countries and sectors. You can do this yourself, although doing this well takes time, research and ongoing balancing, which is exactly why many people use investment trusts or professionally managed funds to avoid becoming a spreadsheet warrior.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-long-term-investing-beats-stockpiling-cash">Long-term investing beats stockpiling cash</h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2560" height="1707" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FASHION-STREET-STYLE-CHANEL-BAG-scaled.jpg" alt="Women wearing a Gucci bag " class="wp-image-128386" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FASHION-STREET-STYLE-CHANEL-BAG-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FASHION-STREET-STYLE-CHANEL-BAG-600x400.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FASHION-STREET-STYLE-CHANEL-BAG-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FASHION-STREET-STYLE-CHANEL-BAG-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FASHION-STREET-STYLE-CHANEL-BAG-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></figure>



A very British quirk: we love cash. We trust cash. We treat cash as the national comfort blanket – even though many of us never carry cash as we tap our phones for every purchase. JP Morgan found many Brits believe cash will outperform the stock market over time – but not according to the data.



Analysis shows that £10,000 kept in a typical Cash ISA over the last decade would now be worth £11,513². That same amount in an FTSE All-Share tracker would be worth £17,999 (as of May 2024)3. That&#8217;s 20 pairs of Louboutins or a couple of Chanel 2.55 bags with change.&nbsp;



This isn’t a fortune-teller’s promise – obviously, future performance is never guaranteed – but it&nbsp;is&nbsp;a clear illustration of how cash can lag once inflation and time get involved. Cash is vital for short-term goals and emergencies, absolutely. But if your money is meant to serve &#8216;Future You&#8217; – five, 10 or 20 years down the line – investing gives it more room to grow than a savings account ever will.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-buy-buy-buy">Buy, buy, buy</h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2560" height="1640" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Green-landscape-scaled.jpg" alt="Green landscape with sunbeam" class="wp-image-128382" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Green-landscape-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Green-landscape-600x384.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Green-landscape-1000x641.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Green-landscape-1536x984.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Green-landscape-2048x1312.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></figure>



The fun bit of investing is that you can put your money into things that reflect your own interests, and women tend to lean into businesses that are both future-proof and purposeful. Rather than chasing hype, we’re drawn to good businesses working on real-world challenges.&nbsp;



Lived experience also plays its part, with money going into&nbsp;healthcare innovation,&nbsp;health tech&nbsp;and&nbsp;femtech. These areas are expanding rapidly as companies focus on fertility, menopause, diagnostics and preventative care, all of which have been historically underfunded and underserved. Meanwhile, industry women interact with daily activities – such as&nbsp;beauty&nbsp;(a multi-billion-pound global market) and elements of&nbsp;fashion, particularly where sustainability or tech innovation is involved – feel intuitively less intimidating for first-time investors. While no sector is risk-free, these are areas shaped by innovation, rising demand and cultural momentum.&nbsp;



Caught the investing bug? Head over to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alliancewitan.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Allia</a><a href="https://www.alliancewitan.com/learning-zone?utm_source=muddy-stilettos&amp;utm_medium=engagement&amp;utm_campaign=sponsorship" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">nce Witan</a>&nbsp;for more useful videos and articles.



Sources:¹ Research was conducted by Opinium on behalf of Alliance Witan from 18 – 25 March 2025, &nbsp;² [P Morgan Asset Management (2025), &#8216;The UK’s savings opportunity&#8217;, J.P. Morgan Asset Management UK, commissioned Opinium survey on attitudes to saving and investing. 3<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/jul/16/isa-shakeup-how-rachel-reeves-aims-to-nudge-people-into-stocks-and-shares" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MoneyWeek</a><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/jul/16/isa-shakeup-how-rachel-reeves-aims-to-nudge-people-into-stocks-and-shares" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GUARDIAN</a>, 16 Jul 2025.

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