Asset management companies may be turning into an “old boys club” according to recent research by State Street, a financial services company, highlighting the fact that pension funds and other big institutional investors employ more than twice as many women in senior investment roles.
Women hold 19 per cent of senior investment roles at large investment companies compared to a measly 7% in the asset management sector.
A senior analyst at State Street research centre highlighted that “men are stereotyped as taking more risks and having winner instincts and higher stress resistance, whereas female managers are stereotyped as less skilled”.
Despite continued efforts, research published earlier this year by FTfm showed that the US failed to attract more women into asset management as the number of female portfolio managers fell every year for the past six years.
As the Financial Times reported, there is evidence that women make much better investors than men. However, a one hundred per cent female dominated industry wouldn't necessarily mean optimal performances. Deep differences in behavioural factors at work are what ultimately determine that men together with women make better investors, especially thanks to a greater diversity of thought.
More on the Financial Time article (subscription required).