When Will We See More Gender Equality in Investing?

In many spheres, such as politics, media and entertainment, women have made considerable progress in reaching executive leadership positions, achieving higher pay, and building new enterprises. But this ascent hasn’t been achieved everywhere. When it comes to investing, progress has been painfully slow. The investment business — encompassing investment management, mutual, hedge, private equity, and venture capital funds — has one of the lowest percentages of women at the top of the pyramid — at 4%. And women only control between 1% and 3.5% of assets under management, depending on specific class. The lack of women leaders in investing is an issue that more firms should be worried about. Research shows that gender diversity at the top is connected to positive returns. And aside from financial performance, retaining and promoting more women in field is the only way to ensure that promising talent isn’t being lost or shuffled out of the industry.