The main focus of this paper is assessing the perception of shareholders towardsrnthe benefits of investing in shares. A questionnaire was answered by 86 respondents inrnAwash International Bank S.C. The sample of this study is relatively heterogeneous,rnwhich allows the researcher to have an overview of the perceptions and behavioralrntendencies of a variety of shareholder groups in setting objectives, risk-taking, and inrnunderstanding the benefits of investing in shares. The majority of shareholders havernlong-term objectives and in general high risk taking tendencies were observed. In risk-rntaking, there is a significant difference between gender and among age categories.rnThe findings suggest that the shareholders have inadequate knowledge of thernbenefits to be realized in relation to investing in shares. The problem spreads across arnbroad spectrum of shareholders of various categories, both genders, and differentrnacademic disciplines. Consistent with previous studies, the results have shown thatrnfemale shareholders are less knowledgeable about the benefits than male shareholders;rnnon-business majors are less knowledgeable than business majors, and institutionalrnshareholders have better understanding than either individual or joint shareholders. Therndifferences between these groups are statistically significant. The secondary datarnanalysis also supports the hypotheses constructed. On the other hand, the corporaterngovernance practices of the bank in protecting the rights of shareholders are collectivelyrnencouraging. Generally, the findings suggest that low awareness levels of the benefits ofrninvesting in shares exist among shareholders and the issue needs to be addressed