The UK was in line with the global average, which showed a similarly sluggish rate of growth in female representation. Only 12.9 per cent of more than 18,400 money managers analysed worldwide were women, compared with 12.5 per cent last year and 10.3 per cent in 2016.<\/p>\n
Sophie Downes, who co-wrote the report, said: \u201cWe\u2019ve heard a lot about diversity initiatives in investment firms, but progress on the overall numbers has been grindingly slow.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the absolute level of assets globally being overseen by women has tripled over the last ten years to \u00a34 trillion, that is linked to the rise of mixed-gender teams, which have risen to 14.9 per cent of the funds studied, up from 6.7 per cent.<\/p>\n
Baroness Morrissey, the former chief executive of Newton Asset Management, insisted that fund performance data over the past five years backed up the argument made by campaigners that mixed-gender teams are more likely to take a measured approach to risk. Analysis of Citywire data shows that mixed teams delivered the lowest volatility in four of the past five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that men and women have slightly complementary approaches to various things, including risk,\u201d Morrissey said. \u201cWe complement each other. We think about different needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Progress on hiring more female fund managers \u2018is patchy\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n However, almost 80 per cent of funds continue to be run by men or male-only teams, overseeing \u00a311.7 trillion in assets, compared with \u00a3548 billion for those run by a single woman or an exclusively female team. The average size of all-male funds also remains larger at \u00a3535 million, compared with \u00a3362 million for those overseen by women.<\/p>\n A far higher proportion of newly launched funds continue to appoint men over women to oversee their management, with just under 3 per cent handed to sole female managers this year, down from 5 per cent last year, and none to female-only teams.<\/p>\n Being appointed to run new funds is viewed as key because they are seen as the plum posts and can boost personal careers because the company\u2019s marketing muscle is put behind them.<\/p>\n Retention also continues to be a problem, the study found, contradicting the theory that the move to flexible working in the aftermath of the pandemic would benefit female fund managers.<\/p>\n The rate of turnover for female portfolio managers \u2014 calculated on the basis of managers being added or removed from the funds in the Citywire database \u2014 rose to 44 per cent, compared with 30 per cent for men.<\/p>\n Some asset classes are performing more poorly than others in terms of gender parity, the report found. The lowest female representation remained in commodities and alternative assets such as infrastructure and private equity, at 8.2 per cent and 5.7 per cent respectively. The percentage of female bond fund managers, meanwhile, stands at a mere 13.6 per cent.<\/p>\n Karis Stander, director of culture, talent and inclusion at the UK\u2019s Investment Association, said the industry needed to move beyond simply tracking data points to truly evaluate the importance of culture within asset management companies.<\/p>\n \u201cShould reaching 50\/50 be the goal? I\u2019m less interested in that and more interested in whether women feel that they can enter the industry and that they can access the rich tapestry and range of jobs that are out there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The report examined just over 29,000 active funds worth $16 trillion in total.<\/p>\n President Trump has led a political backlash against DEI policies<\/p>\n EVAN VUCCI\/AP<\/p>\n DEI rollback has encouraged employers to reflect<\/p>\n The second Trump<\/a> presidency has unleashed a backlash against diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) targets<\/a>, which were scrapped by some major American companies and diluted by others.<\/p>\n In February, Goldman Sachs and Deloitte announced they would be withdrawing internal DEI policies. In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority said a month later that it would not be bringing in any new rules on diversity and inclusion.<\/p>\n![\"President](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/\/a4cc1f33-c899-4cb2-839d-a56c96d309d5.jpg\")
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