In a significant blow to the push for gender equality within the asset management sector, Citywire’s Alpha Female Report for 2023 shows almost no progress in the representation of female fund managers over the past year.
The percentage of female managers in the Citywire Fund Manager Database rose by a meagre 0.1% year-on-year, from 12% to 12.1%. This stands in stark contrast to the modest but steady gains in gender diversity the industry had been making in previous years.
Luxembourg remained among the top 10 countries in terms of gender parity, with female managers accounting for 13% of the 5,112 managers in Citywire’s Luxembourg database, the same as in 2022. A mere 6% of funds are run by a single female manager or an all-female team, compared to 5% in 2022. Some 80% of funds are managed by a single male manager or an all-male team, compared to 81% a year earlier.
Dutch sector near bottom of gender list
Gender parity in the Dutch fund management sector is at bottom-levels, with a mere 5% of fund managers being female, down from 7% in 2022 and at the same level as Brazil, which is at the very bottom of Citywire’s list. Only 1% of Dutch funds is managed by an all-female team.
Belgium, on the other hand, saw the share of female managers rise to 18% last year, up from 13% in 2022.
The Citywire report, which analysed a global pool of 18,015 portfolio managers, shows the industry has been almost stagnant in its progress toward gender diversity. In 2016, the first year the report was published, female fund managers represented 10.3% of the total. Seven years later, that figure has moved up by just 1.8 percentage points.
Efforts not paying off
Efforts to move the needle on gender parity have not translated to female managers taking the helm of new funds, the Citywire report said. The report shows that the number of new funds launched in the past year halved to 274, down from 562 in the previous 12 months. Of those, a mere 6.2% were assigned to female managers or all-female teams. When including new funds managed by mixed-gender teams, the figure rises to just 15.7%.
The asset management sector continues to struggle with retaining female talent. Turnover figures from the 2023 report indicate that the percentage of female managers leaving their roles was higher than that for males—42% compared to 28%.
Changes in remote work policies, as many companies require increased in-office time, appear to have disproportionately impacted working mothers. Firms like BlackRock and JP Morgan have recently asked staff to spend more time in the office, with JP Morgan requiring senior team members to return for all five weekdays.
Among asset managers with more than 100 employees, Abrdn leads in gender representation with women making up 21% of its portfolio manager pool, followed by Schroders at 18% and HSBC Asset Management at 19%. Despite their leading positions, even these firms have struggled to maintain their gains, with Abrdn dropping three percentage points compared to last year.
Narrow pool of experienced women
The report suggests that the lack of progress stems in part from firms tapping into a narrow pool of experienced female candidates, instead of nurturing internal talent. High-profile departures, such as that of Juliana Hansveden from Nordea to Ninety One, and Natalie Falkman from Swedbank Robur to Robeco, exemplify this issue.
“Cost pressures aside, a key reason for the lack of progress in gender parity is that asset managers are often looking at the same narrow pool of candidates,” said Citywire.
Globally, Taiwan leads with 29% of fund management roles held by women, followed by Hong Kong at 25%, and Spain and Italy at 21% and 20%, respectively. The UK and the US continue to lag, hovering near the global average of 12.1%.