Ladies rake in £153bn

Meet Ms Moneybags - a new breed of super-cool, super-affluent woman so wealthy her male counterparts are left in the shade.

Almost 300,000 women own at least £200,000 in cash, shares and bonds - compared with just 271,000 men, a study showed yesterday.

Britain's richest women are worth £153billion - not far behind the £172billion value of the richest men.

Businesswoman Rachel Elnaugh, 38, said: 'People tend to underestimate women. They don't think they are a force to be reckoned with.'

The well-heeled woman falls into three groups, research firm Datamonitor concluded.

The Sex And The City Brigade outperform the lads at school, university and in the workplace.

The Sarahs - Single And Rich And Happy - cash in on their menfolk's wealth through the divorce courts. And the Boomers take advantage of female longevity to inherit their husband's wealth when they die.

The study found more women were training for well-paid professions ,such as accountancy and law, while a new generation of wealthy female film stars - led by Pirates Of The Caribbean star Keira Knightley - is also emerging.

Finance firms now target females with investment plans especially for wealthy, divorced or widowed women.