In Hong Kong, 71% of women leave decisions on long term household financial planning, like investing, insurance and retirement, to their spouses, according to a UBS survey released ahead of International Women's Day.

In comparison, across nine markets worldwide including Hong Kong covered by the study, the findings are that over 80% of women are highly involved in short-term finances, like daily expenses, but almost 60% do not participate in any long-term household financial planning.

The UBS investor watch study surveyed nearly 3,700 women in the nine markets across the Americas, Europe and Asia. It included 367 women in Hong Kong: 100 were widowed or divorced, and the rest married.

The most common reason for taking a back seat globally, including Hong Kong and Singapore, was because a spouse knows more about long-term investment decisions, and women had “other responsibilities”.

Ms Mariana Lui, head of China business at UBS Wealth Management, said, “The greater longevity of women is a key reason why women need to focus on longer term financial planning.”

And though divorce rates vary between countries, splitting up is a common enough factor to not defer financial planning to a spouse. Divorce rates in Hong Kong, for example, have more than doubled since 1991, to reach 2.34 per 1,000 couples in 2016.

Some 85% of the city’s widows and divorcees wish they had been more involved in long term financial decisions while married, according to the report, compared to the global average of 76%.