Improving gender balance in investment management teams

THE Financial Services Council (FSC) has today launched a new fund manager resource and Guidance Note to help improve gender balance in investment management teams.

FSC CEO Sally Loane said, “We know women are underrepresented in financial services generally, and in a variety of investment management related roles in particular, which is why we are proud to launch this guidance note today.

“The benefits of diversity within organisations are well known - extensive research shows that diversity in teams and leadership improves decision making, innovation and financial performance,” Ms Loane said.

“Our gender diversity Guidance Note for our fund and asset manager members is timely and practical as we all look for ways to support women entering and progressing in the workforce. Firms are constantly looking to improve the way they go about business, and we know that diversity can and does play a critical role in enhancing business outcomes.”

A 2017 Women Matter A Time to Accelerate paper by McKinsey and Company, reported a strong correlation between women in top management teams and better financial results. McKinsey found companies that had the most women in executive committees had “a difference in return on equity of 47 percent between the companies with the most women on their executive committees and those with none, and a 55 percent difference in operating results".

The Diversity Working Group was established last year and developed a gender diversity resource library - which has a particular focus on gender diversity in funds management - the Guidance Note is the second key initiative which has been under development since last year.

Guidance Note 38 provides policy recommendations, processes, and approaches that organisations can consider across a range of important areas including:

• recruitment and talent management;
• the value of internal sponsorship over external mentorship to help elevate staff within business; and
• the inclusion of case studies which provide practical tips on approaches member firms have incorporated and found useful.

“This is an invaluable fund manager resource which can benefit investment management teams as well as organisations more broadly,” Ms Loane said.

A copy of Guidance Note 38: Improving Gender Balance in Investment Teams is available here.

www.fsc.org.au

 

About the Financial Services Council

The Financial Services Council (FSC) has more than100 members representing Australia's retail and wholesale funds management businesses, superannuation funds, life insurers, financial advisory networks and licensed trustee companies. The industry is responsible for investing almost $3 trillion on behalf of more than 15.6 million Australians. The pool of funds under management is larger than Australia’s GDP and the capitalisation of the Australian Securities Exchange and is the fourth largest pool of managed funds in the world.