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Published on December 13, 2007

Money & Banking Magazine yesterday named Kannikar Chalitaporn, president of Siam Commercial Bank, as the best financier of the year.

No offence to our male readers. But the magazine reasoned that Kannikar deserves to be banker of the year because she has a vision to turn SCB into a universal bank. She is a professional banker who places high priority on risk management and has turned SCB into the third-largest bank, with more than Bt1 trillion in assets. And, more importantly, this lady has an excellent record in corporate social responsibility.

We won't dwell on her CV but the point we want to make here is that, in fact, Kannikar's gender may enhance her ability as a good banker.

Yes, women may be perceived as shopping machines, thanks to the "Sex and the City" characters who don't think twice before spending mega-bucks for a pair of designer shoes. But when it comes to investment and finance strategy, women are usually more prudent.

First of all, they tend to be more reluctant than men to follow higher risk-investment strategies such as buying stocks and shares. When women take risks, they are more rational by considering sure returns instead of following the impulsive instinct to bet on fluctuating shares.

While male counterparts may see risky moves as demonstrating confidence, women see such impulsive moves as unreasonable. They tend to be scientific when it comes to money.

We have checked with some of our female colleagues whether or not this is the case.

One with a strong

feminist attitude answered yes.

Why?

"Because we earn less than a man even though our qualifications are

the same, even though

we are as good as they are."

Men may argue that the clothes and cosmetics women buy are a bad investment compared to watches and cars, the gadgets men buy because they can be resold.

But another female

staff member won the argument by proving her point that females are more prudent. "Do you remember how much you have to spend on each item in the supermarket?" she said.

Do you?

Busdsk@nationgroup.com