India, Jan. 9 -- Like so many things - the office AC settings, pain relief formulas, heart-attack symptoms - when it comes to finance, women live in a world that was designed for men.

This, rather than any inbuilt aversion to risk, is why women invest differently. Finance was not built around their economic lives.

Their investing behaviour is nonetheless still viewed as a matter of temperament: Too cautious, too conservative, too risk-averse. This diagnosis, convenient but inaccurate, treats outcomes as preferences while ignoring a fundamental lack of choice at various levels.

Before we look at how this plays out in the markets, a quick look back.

Women's bonds with finance far predate modern banking, of course. Historical records des...