An overwhelming majority (94 per cent) of fund manager members claim to actively monitor and track gender diversity statistics within their organisations, new data from the Financial Services Council (FSC) has shown.
The FSC’s 2023 Diversity Survey, encompassing 16 of its global and domestic fund manager members, revealed that 75 per cent of respondents have expectations, KPIs or linkages to remuneration in place for leaders and managers related to diversity and inclusion.
Moreover, 100 per cent of respondents said they maintain a focus on improving gender diversity in their business, with the majority tracking gender diversity statistics within their investment teams (88 per cent).
FSC chief executive Blake Briggs said that women continue to be underrepresented in asset management roles, with the funds management industry continuing to work towards achieving greater diversity in the sector.
“The survey revealed that the representation of women in investment teams averaged 29 per cent, while the average organisation wide representation was above 37 per cent,” Mr Briggs noted.
“This compares to investment team representation of 25 per cent in the first year the survey was conducted, and 27 per cent in the 2022 survey.”
Key to achieving greater diversity within investment teams, Mr Briggs added, is the continued encouragement of women to consider the funds management industry as a rewarding career path and supporting their career development as they progress into senior funds management roles.
This year the FSC also broke down the proportion of women in senior investment roles, with women making up 11 per cent of chief investment officers, 18 per cent of portfolio managers, and 41 per cent of assistant portfolio managers and below within respondent investment teams.
According to the FSC, organisations are increasing their focus on a range of areas to drive change, including establishing benchmarks to measure progress, establishing a pipeline of female talent to move into leadership positions, and developing external talent pools to target for investment management positions when they become available.
“Achieving greater diversity in investment management teams will take time, but the industry demonstrates its commitment by reporting annually on its progress, and we are heading in the right direction,” Mr Briggs said.
