‘Women tend to be more inclusive, more collegiate and often more effective,’ according to Mary Ann Sieghart, author of ‘The Authority Gap: Why women are still taken less seriously than men.’
As we celebrate and recognise International Women’s Day today, Paras Anand, the Chief Investment Officer of Artemis Investment Managers and the company’s lead on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) reminds us that there is clearly still much work to do for the financial advice and asset management sectors if we are to close the gender gap
Figures from the FCA last year show that 84% of financial advisers are men and only 8% of all advisers, male and female, are under the age of 30.
The asset management industry doesn’t come out any better despite the Diversity Project’s challenge to have 30% of all fund managers in the UK being women by 2030.
According to the Citywire Alpha female research last year, only 12% of all funds in the UK are managed by women, up from 9% in 2016 when the research first started. While the CFA Institute’s data shows less than one in five of its charterholders are female.
Does it really matter?
So why is gender diversity so important to me and the rest of the financial services industry?
My view of the financial services industry was shaped by my mother. She was a fund manager for one of the oldest insurance companies in the UK.
Growing up, I did not see fund management as being the preserve of one gender or another, it was something my mother was very successful at and she could point to other successful female colleagues.
Looking back, I don’t I remember any specific discussions around diversity as such. Therefore, it seemed to be me that the insurance industry, or at least the fund management part of it, was something anyone could do whatever their background.
My mother was my inspiration for joining the industry. However, when I eventually did start my career I noticed that things had begun to change both from a gender perspective but also more broadly too. What do I mean by that?
For example, there seemed to be less people who had arts-based degrees. I have a degree in English Literature and some of the fund managers and leaders that I looked up to, such as Nick Train, now of Lindsell Train, also had arts or humanities degrees.
But what I saw were more people with science or business or mathematics degrees joining the industry which seemed to have grown with the rise of professional examinations.
New ‘barriers’ to entry
This trend was something that has been observed in other industries as they grew in the last 30-40 years such as in computer programming, in so much as they became dominated by men and a series of ‘barriers’ were effectively being established to limit the participation of women.
The degree ‘requirements’ moved heavily towards more ‘male’ subjects despite there being no evidence that specific degrees make anyone a better investor.
In fact, as most of us know, diversification is the only ‘free lunch’ in financial markets. One of the best ways to achieve this is by diversity of thought by gender but also by ethnicity and socio-economic background.
Embracing change and making it happen
We are beginning to remove or challenge some of the ‘barriers’ with terrific initiatives like the returners’ programme to help women back into the industry after career breaks as a result of child or caring duties or health issues. A greater emphasis on investment teams rather than so-called ‘star’ mangers is additive both to client outcomes and creating the basis for greater diversity as career breaks from any team members no longer carry the perceived or real career consequences that they may have historically.
Going forward, it is fundamental to the financial well-being of the millions of people in this country that the financial advice and investment management sectors reflect the make-up of the entire population and do not fall back into old stereotypes of who the clients and customers of the future will be.
If people who have not historically engaged with the industry see more people like themselves then they will have confidence that we are industries that can meet their needs.
Gender diversity should not be something which is discussed only on International Women’s Day but all year around. We all have a part to play in increasing the growing participation of women across the industry. We will be immeasurably better off for it.
Paras Anand is the Chief Investment Officer of Artemis Investment Managers and the company’s lead on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
