“Financial planning is not a luxury” – Interview with Karolina Decker, CEO and founder of finmarie

How can women become financially independent and more confident in their financial decisions? This is the question addressed by Karolina Decker, CEO and founder of finmarie. finmarie is an investment platform and mobile app designed specifically for women to help them invest their money wisely and plan for the future. We spoke to Karolina Decker about how she came up with the idea of helping women with financial education, how her concept works and what tips she has for aspiring entrepreneurs.

With finmarie, you have set yourself the goal of supporting women in particular with financial education. How did you come up with the idea?
With finmarie, we have set ourselves the goal of supporting women with financial education. The idea arose from the realisation that women are often more frequently affected by poor financial decisions due to historical role models and existing biases. As women make up half of the population, they are an essential part of all target groups.

With social change towards more diversity and equality, women are also developing new demands for services and offers in the financial sector. However, their needs are often not sufficiently taken into account in traditional financial advice. finmarie was founded to close this gap and provide women with the financial education and support they need.

How do you go about this? How does your concept work?
finmarie is an investment platform and mobile app for women in Europe that can be used for both private customers (B2C) and for companies (B2B). As a comprehensive solution, finmari eoffers digital financial education, wealth management with robo-advisor tools and a digital insurance strategy. The offering: finmarie primarily aims to empower women to make smart financial decisions themselves and to make the financial market more transparent and more accessible. Among other things, the Investment Academy, an 8-week-training programme, is intended to help with this. It provides participants with a step-by-step guide to transforming their finances – from learning the basics to making their first investment. Customers have now invested several million euros with the help of finmarie.
We have developed a flexible and customisable SaaS solution for companies. This includes personal financial coaching and a hybrid digital Financial Wellness Academy, which can be offered as a white-labelled option under the company’s own brand.

Numerous studies repeatedly show that women invest differently to men, partly because they appear to have less financial education. What is the reason for this difference?
The difference in the investment behaviour of women and men can be attributed to several interesting factors. Women often have less access to financial education than men, which influences their investment behaviour. While men often simply move on from losses and talk about them less, they tend to be bolder – sometimes even reckless and overconfident.

Women, on the other hand, are often more cautious and risk-conscious. They prefer to invest with a long-term view and take care to make sustainable decisions. This approach means that female portfolios are often more stable and even perform better in the long term. Through their careful and far-sighted investment strategy, women create a solid financial foundation for the future.

30 per cent of German women feel financially dependent, 82 per cent are convinced that they will never be financially independent. How can a solution like finmarie help?
Every woman must learn to be more courageous with her finances and actively invest money. The gender pay gap, the gender investing gap and the gender pension gap – i.e. the fact that women earn less, invest less and have less money in old age – are major problems that urgently need to be addressed.

That’s why there’s no way around sound financial planning for women. It can be easy to get started, for example with an ETF savings plan starting at 25 euros per month. The earlier you start, the better. The decisive factor is long-term investment and the consistent pursuit of your own strategy without being unsettled by market fluctuations.
Financial planning is not a luxury, but a necessity for every woman. Now is the time to take responsibility for your own finances and take control of your financial future.

Studies show that women are more risk averse when it comes to investment products. How can you instil more courage to invest more in the financial market?
Many women often lack confidence in their financial abilities. But you don’t have to be an investment professional to successfully build up your wealth. You don’t have to be a broker or a statistics expert. Unfortunately, the topic of finance has long been portrayed as very complicated, which makes women feel insecure.

We are currently seeing a clear example on the market of why women are often cautious: They feel overwhelmed by the amount of information and products available. Constant media reports about “top shares” and “must buy” investments only make things more complicated and opaque.

That is why finmarie is committed to bringing more transparency and clarity to the financial world. We want to encourage women to take control of their finances and give them the confidence they need to invest successfully. Now is the time to trust yourself and take action!

What have you learnt in particular on your journey with FinMarie? Were there any surprises in the area of finance and women?
There is a lack of basic financial education in the current school system. Children in 6th and 7th grade do not learn what services and products are available on the market that could be important for their future. It’s reminiscent of the viral tweet from a few years ago: You can write a poetry analysis in three languages, but don’t know how to do a tax return. That urgently needs to change.

To improve this, we launched the “Schulgold” initiative before corona. Our aim is to get young people interested in finance. We went to Berlin schools and taught classes the basics of finance in 45 minutes.

You’ve been around since 2018. A lot has happened since then – the pandemic, the time of multiple crises. How have you experienced this time as founders?
The coronavirus pandemic has presented us all with enormous challenges. We had to react quickly, including through the conversion and digitalisation of work processes. A clearly defined corporate culture (home office, remote working, trust-based working hours) has helped us a lot. And ultimately, it’s always about setting an example of mentally healthy behaviour, i.e. acting as a role model.

You are a female team of founders and therefore in the minority in Germany and internationally. What advice can you give to women who want to start their own business?
Founders are used to adapting quickly to new situations – and making the best of them. However, this would be much easier for them if government support and investor capital were even better tailored to their specific needs.

What are general tips for founders that you wish you had known when you were a founder?
Firstly: Always be up to date! Keep up to date with the latest developments in your industry and ensure that your company always has its finger on the pulse. Use innovative tools and technologies to help you optimise your processes and motivate your employees.

Secondly, focus on your strengths! Concentrate on the areas in which you are particularly good and target your energies there. Delegate tasks that are not among your strengths to your team and utilise their skills to achieve even greater success together.

And thirdly: Be courageous and innovative! Have the courage to break new ground and realise innovative ideas. This is the only way to set yourself apart from the competition and lead your company into a successful future.

Thank you very much for your insights, Karolina.