Friday’s Headlines: Why Wall Street Needs More Women Traders

Who would make better traders: women or men? According to Time magazine, women make better traders because they:

• Are more likely to admit mistakes or ignorance.
• Do their homework.
• Set specific goals.
• Approach risks cautiously.

And that, says Time, is why Wall Street needs more of them, despite recent news reports about JPMorgan Chase investment chief Ina Drew who resigned as a result of the bank’s multi-billion dollar loss. Drew was one of few women traders or investment managers.

The Time magazine essay cites a decades-old study by behavioral economists Terrence Odean and Brad Barber who analyzed account data for more than 35,000 households at a large discount brokerage. They examined common stock investments of both men and women and discovered that net returns of men fell by 2.65 percentage points a year compared to 1.72 percent for women.

 

Other News:

Lehman Brothers will buy a 26.5 percent stake in Archstone, an apartment complex, for about $1.58 billion. [DealBook]

Citigroup has won an auction for $1.67 billion of Maiden Lane bonds. [DealBook]

Sherbank of Russia is in exclusive talks to buy DenizBank, the Turkish subsidiary of the French-Belgian lender Dexia. [DealBook]

The FDIC reports that first quarter bank profits rose to their highest levels in nearly five years and the number of troubled banks fell for the fourth consecutive quarter. [Associated Press]

France’s biggest banks are seeking new ways to finance their balance sheets. [Bloomberg]

Moody’s Investor Service today cut the credit ratings of three of the Nordic region’s biggest banks in part because of the Euro zone crisis. [Reuters]

Ric Edelman will become sole CEO of the Edelman Financial Group, a wealth management company. [Bizjournals.com]

Goldman Sachs plans to start a real estate investment trust that will invest in Japan’s property market. [Bloomberg]

Wells Fargo Advisors has appointed Atul Kamra to the new role of head of advice. [OnWallStreet.com]

The SEC has filed a complaint against a California investment advisor, accusing him of lying to clients about how their money was being used. [Investment News]

SEI, the hedge fund administrator, has been selected by a Tokyo finance group to provide back and middle office solutions for its hedge fund division. [HedgeFund.net]