In contrast to other studies, the NextWomen project avoids the topics of women’s emancipation and focuses more on inheritance and the transfer of property. According to Neveselý, the Czech Republic is distinguished from other countries primarily by a strong group of entrepreneurs in their nineties. “The curiosity of the Czech Republic is the fact that everyone started their business in the nineties. It can therefore be logically assumed that everyone will finish at a similar time,” explains Neveselý.
Considering that women on average live to a higher age than men, according to Neveselý, a large part of the assets of entrepreneurs from the nineties will go to their wives. “At the age of 70, there are approximately ten percent more women than men, and at the age of 80, the difference increases – 61.6 percent of women, 38.4 percent of men. And at the age of 90, the ratio of women to men is 71 percent to 29 percent,” the study states specifically. On average, women live six years longer than men, and in 2030 they should live seven years longer than men.
This trend can also be traced abroad. Neveselý cited a McKinsey & Company study as an example. It shows that roughly 70 percent of the investable assets of wealthy American households are controlled by people from the baby boom period, that is, the generation born between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s.
Two-thirds of the assets of this generation are held by households in which women are not involved in financial decisions. However, men of this generation usually have younger wives, who also live longer on average. Their property will therefore again pass to their partners. Based on this premise, by 2030, American women are expected to control the majority of the total wealth of baby boomers, or $30 trillion.
Family office versus trusts
According to the study, the issue of succession is relevant for almost a third of family business owners. Their owners are over 70 years old. The results of NextWomen’s analysis showed that in the event of the sudden death of this group of owners and the subsequent distribution of assets through inheritance, most of the assets would fall into the hands of women. “According to current family conditions and current legislation, up to 70 percent of property would pass into the hands of women, while men would continue to control only 25 percent,” said Neveselý following the study.
That is why the representatives of the law firm appealed for the distribution and management of the property before anyone in the family dies. Recently, an interesting variant for family holdings is the family office strategy. “Family office is a kind of jigsaw puzzle of simple and common legal and tax solutions, which put together a system of rules and relationships for property management and business. And always tailored to the specific needs of the family,” Neveselý explains the essence of the family office.
At the same time, the family office is a more popular alternative to the infamous trust funds, which, according to Neveselý, an ordinary entrepreneur does not even know how to work with. Regarding the issue of wills or so-called acquisitions in the event of death drawn up for reasons of legal certainty and inviolability before a notary, a certain shift can be seen in the number of them drawn up.
However, there is still a large percentage of entrepreneurs who do not solve the issue of inheritance in this way. “Data on wills provided by the Chamber of Notaries of the Czech Republic for the purposes of this study confirm an increasing trend, i.e. that the number of wills has been gradually increasing over the past five years, but in 2021 the chamber recorded just over 26.5 thousand so-called acquisitions in the event of death drawn up for reasons of legal certainty and inviolability before a notary,” the study stated.
How do women manage property compared to men?
For a more accurate picture of the “feminine” future, the survey focused on the different approach to finance between men and women. Monika Marečková, the managing partner of RSM CZ, sees the main difference in the matter of investments. While 26 percent of men are not afraid of risky investments, only three percent of women are. However, the development of the investor strategy is interesting. Unlike men, who gamble more in their youth and resort to conservative funds in their old age, women gather their courage gradually. “As a rule, older women are not afraid to reach for riskier investments,” said Marečková.
“Men invest more in stocks and are twice as likely to invest assets in cryptocurrencies, while women prefer more conservative investments in real estate. They also tend to hold a higher proportion of their assets in cash, which can lead to lower long-term returns,” Marečková said following the study. Among other things, for twice as many women as men, the ESG approach of the companies in which they invest is important.
