Women Fare Better than Men on the Stock Exchange

Last year's stock market star was in many ways the defense company Saab. The stock gained 84,000 new owners and the price has soared by over 50 percent. And women again performed better than men with their investments on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, according to new statistics.

» Published: February 24 2025

Women Fare Better than Men on the Stock Exchange
Photo: Anders Humlebo/TT

The increasingly uncertain global situation made Saab outperform most stocks with a wide margin last year. The price has risen by over 50 percent over the past year, even more in the long term, and the Swedes were on board, at least the men, with nearly 84,000 new individual owners. Only one in four Saab shareholders is a woman.

But if women may have missed the Saab train, they as a group managed to beat the men on the Stockholm Stock Exchange overall in 2024, with a return of 5.0 percent compared to 4.3 percent for the men.

And it was the second year in a row, says Krister Modin, analyst at Euroclear Sweden, which compiles Swedish share ownership.

Among typical women's stocks, we find fashion giant H&M, forestry company Billerud, appliance manufacturer Electrolux, major bank SEB, and telecom company Ericsson, where the first-mentioned did not exactly thrill the market last year.

Investor at the top

In the list of the largest number of new individual owners of Swedish shares in 2024, Saab tops the list. Then comes Investor, major shareholder in Saab, with 73,000 new owners, making the Wallenberg family's investment company the most popular stock among small investors, with 634,000 individual owners, a position the stock has held for several years now. This means that about one in four shareholders has an Investor share in their portfolio.

Next in the list of the largest folk shares comes Telia, which lives on old merits. In connection with the highly publicized IPO just after the millennium shift, the number was over a million, now the figure is down to 434,000.

From 8 to 28

It's also an explanation for why the number of folk shares has increased so sharply, from 8 in 2014 to 28 today. Many jump on the bandwagon, and then largely stay on even after the hype has subsided and the price may have gone down.

It has also become more common for small shareholders to own very small stakes, perhaps 10-50 shares. Krister Modin, analyst at Euroclear, speculates about why:

It could be that there are more savings platforms. And it's not that expensive to buy these small stakes compared to before.

The tax-favored ISK savings has "definitely" also contributed, he believes.

A folk share is defined as a company with at least 100,000 individual owners. The number of folk shares has increased from 8 to 28 over the past ten years.

This is what the list looks like:

Company, number of owners

Investor, 633,624

Telia, 434,416

Volvo, 397,649

Ericsson, 385,534

Swedbank, 347,588

SEB, 281,823

SSAB, 268,011

Handelsbanken, 220,505

H&M, 211,247

SBB, 194,861

Industrivärden, 189,751

Saab, 188,828

Nibe, 177,091

Volvo Cars, 168,400

Kinnevik, 161,282

Atlas Copco, 141,966

Sandvik, 134,934

Axfood, 130,059

Boliden, 121,985

Latour, 118,802

Source: Euroclear

Tags

TTT
By TT - Translated and adapted by Sweden Herald under license from TT

More news

Easter Eggs Evolve: More Companies
1 MIN READ

Easter Eggs Evolve: More Companies Join the Festive Trend

Survey Reveals Workplace Silence Affects
1 MIN READ

Survey Reveals Workplace Silence Affects One in Seven Employees

Swedes to Spend Nearly a
3 MIN READ

Swedes to Spend Nearly a Billion Kronor on Easter Candy

Indonesia to Boost Oil and
1 MIN READ

Indonesia to Boost Oil and Gas Imports from USA to Ease Trade Tariffs

European Stocks Gain Popularity as
3 MIN READ

European Stocks Gain Popularity as Investors Shift Focus from US

Asian Markets Show Mixed Movements
1 MIN READ

Asian Markets Show Mixed Movements as Investors Eye US Tariff Talks

Netflix Surpasses Market Forecasts with
1 MIN READ

Netflix Surpasses Market Forecasts with Strong Quarterly Earnings

United Health's Sharp Decline Weighs
1 MIN READ

United Health's Sharp Decline Weighs on Wall Street Indices

Civil Servant Strike Averted as
2 MIN READ

Civil Servant Strike Averted as New Agreements Reached

IMF Predicts Global Economy to
1 MIN READ

IMF Predicts Global Economy to Sidestep Recession Despite Trade Strains

Judge Rules Google Maintains Illegal
1 MIN READ

Judge Rules Google Maintains Illegal Monopoly in Digital Advertising

Electricians Secure New Deal with
1 MIN READ

Electricians Secure New Deal with Pay Raises and Shorter Hours

US Economy Shows New Signs
2 MIN READ

US Economy Shows New Signs of Weakness with Housing and Manufacturing Slumps

Jonathan Anderson Named Dior Menswear
1 MIN READ

Jonathan Anderson Named Dior Menswear Creative Director

Eli Lilly Shares Surge After
1 MIN READ

Eli Lilly Shares Surge After Promising Weight Loss Pill Results

ECB Lowers Rates Again, More
3 MIN READ

ECB Lowers Rates Again, More Cuts Expected This Year

Study Reveals Long-Term Economic Strain
1 MIN READ

Study Reveals Long-Term Economic Strain for Russia in Ukraine Conflict

Trump Claims He Can Oust
2 MIN READ

Trump Claims He Can Oust Fed Chair Powell Despite Lacking Authority

Hermes Increases U.S. Prices to
1 MIN READ

Hermes Increases U.S. Prices to Offset Tariff Impact

Trump Administration Halts New York
1 MIN READ

Trump Administration Halts New York Offshore Wind Farm Construction

Genre image
1 MIN READ

Pernod Ricard Sales Dip Due to Cognac Challenges in China

TSMC Reports Strong Q1 Results
1 MIN READ

TSMC Reports Strong Q1 Results with 42% Sales Increase

ABB Gains Despite Downturn in
1 MIN READ

ABB Gains Despite Downturn in Stockholm Stock Exchange

ABB Boosts Profit, Plans Robotics
2 MIN READ

ABB Boosts Profit, Plans Robotics Division Spin-Off

Asian Markets Rise on Positive
1 MIN READ

Asian Markets Rise on Positive US-Japan Trade Talks

SBAB Predicts Decline in Mortgage
1 MIN READ

SBAB Predicts Decline in Mortgage Rates as Repo Rate Expected to Drop

Trump Reports 'Great Progress' in
2 MIN READ

Trump Reports 'Great Progress' in Trade Talks with Japan

Nvidia's Warning Sends Wall Street
1 MIN READ

Nvidia's Warning Sends Wall Street Indices Tumbling

EU Launches Safety Sweep to
1 MIN READ

EU Launches Safety Sweep to Tackle Dangerous Products Online

WTO Report: Trump's Tariffs Could
1 MIN READ

WTO Report: Trump's Tariffs Could Cut Global Trade by 1.5% by 2025

Record Restaurant Bankruptcies in March
1 MIN READ

Record Restaurant Bankruptcies in March Highlight Industry Struggles

US Retail Sales Surge in
1 MIN READ

US Retail Sales Surge in March, Driven by Car Purchases

Northvolt's Acting CEO Pia Aaltonen-Forsell
1 MIN READ

Northvolt's Acting CEO Pia Aaltonen-Forsell Steps Down

California Challenges Trump's Tariffs in
1 MIN READ

California Challenges Trump's Tariffs in Court, Citing Illegality

Social Democrats Propose Boost in
2 MIN READ

Social Democrats Propose Boost in Support for Single Parents

Autoliv Navigates Trade Tariffs with
3 MIN READ

Autoliv Navigates Trade Tariffs with Strong First-Quarter Performance