A study, published last week, that found there has been no rise in the number of female fund managers was disappointing to say the least.
The Tilney Bestinvest research discovered just 7 per cent of open-ended retail funds are now being managed by women – still the same dismal proportion as in 2014.
There is not a great deal of variation on the proportion of women running funds in each sector, but what variation exists is interesting.
The UK Equity Income sector has just 5 per cent of funds run by women. That makes sense – it’s arguably the most important sector of them all, with probably the highest salaries ready to be doled out to the usual (male) suspects.
At the other end, the Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares sector has 9 per cent of funds run by women. Most of the funds in there are relatively small, of course.
The boys’ club, it seems, lives on in UK asset management.
In fact, compared to the US our fund management industry is practically laden with women. Last week the FT reported Morningstar research that found women run just 2 per cent of assets over there.
But that doesn’t excuse the fact that here, in the world’s second-largest investment management centre, women are clearly woefully underrepresented in spite of a great deal of attention towards this issue.
The FT’s fund management insert, FTfm, has for years been campaigning on the issue. So too has Newton chief executive Helena Morrissey, who was named chair of the Investment Association last year with a clear mandate to try to effect change on the issue.
The arguments in favour of seeing women represented in the financial jobs of power have already been made at length.
But there does seem to be an acute problem with this in fund management roles specifically.
Is there some conscious or unconscious view that putting a female pair of hands at the helm of a fund will deter investors? Would such a view, tragically, be justified given most fund selectors themselves are male?
I hope not, but asset management firms should have the courage to be progressive on this issue regardless.
Is it really true that there is a dearth of women leaving university and applying for portfolio analyst roles? Perhaps it is time for the industry to get out there and do something about it at a grassroots level.
What I want to know is whether anybody will shine a light on the worst offenders that refuse to put women into fund management positions.
That could be the only way to start remedying this issue.
Bad press equals bad fund sales, and that might be the only way to make the industry sit up and pay attention.
John Kenchington is editor of Investment Adviser
