Closing the Global Gender Gap: issues for the investment industry

Diversity and Inclusion in the Investment Industry

The World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report covers the issue of gender parity from a multitude of angles.  Although many strides have been made in recent years regarding educational attainment and health-oriented goals, there is still a wide gulf between men and women across the globe when it comes to political empowerment and economic opportunities. 

The investment industry should hold itself accountable and heed this call to action by taking active steps to close the existing gender gap.  First, within its own ranks, by hiring, training, and promoting a more diverse workforce, but also by voting to increase diversity on corporate boards and encouraging the broader corporate community to raise its policies and practices to a higher standard. 

In the list below, we select some of the best recent papers covering this topic:  

The Global Gender Gap Report (WEF, 2018)

The WEF's 367-page Global Gender Gap Report contains a mountain of data on gender parity, benchmarking 149 countries across four separate dimensions - Political Empowerment, Health and Survival, Educational Attainment, and Economic Participation and Opportunity.

Understanding and unlocking the value in gender equity (Eaton Vance, 2019)

For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in the United States and Canada

In this 28-page report, Calvert calls for increased diversity and inclusion in the workforce, highlighting the material benefits of gender diversity to society as a whole, and providing a detailed analysis of the gender pay gap and female employment globally.

Board effectiveness: Lessons from companies to trustees (LGIM, 2019)

For compliance reasons, this paper is NOT accessible in the United States and Canada

LGIM discusses ways to enhance board effectiveness and to promote good governance on corporate boards. One such step would be to promote diversity of thought by increasing gender diversity, having independent directors, and ensuring that board members have diverse backgrounds.

Why Women Earn Less in Retirement (MFS, 2019)

For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in the United Kingdom

Reducing the present day gender pay gap is critical to addressing the pension income gap that women will likely face in retirement. This document looks at the extent of both the gender pay gap and the gender pension gap in the UK and Europe.

Broad Diversity as a Driver of Meritocracy (Invesco, 2018)

For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in certain geographies

Diversity is widely recognized today as a source of competitive advantage. This report looks at the story of diversity in the workplace over the past 50 years, along with groundbreaking research in the field.

Driving Change: Diversity & Inclusion in Investment Management (CFA Institute, 2018)

Investment firms must focus on their people model in order to attract the best talent. This report asks what an inclusive and diverse work culture looks like within the investment industry and how it can be manifested.

Incorporating diversity into passive investments (FTSE Russell, 2018)

FTSE Russell looks at ways to assist market participants in integrating gender diversity concerns within their benchmarks by focusing on companies with diverse leadership ranks.

Wall Street Meet Fearless Girl (State Street Global Advisors blog, Mar 2019)

State Street Global Advisors provides an update on 'Fearless Girl' including the impact that this campaign has had, reiterating the importance of gender diversity on boards and within overall corporate leadership.

Women in Private Equity (BVCA/Level 20, Jul 2019)

This research by BVCA and Level 20 highlights the dearth of gender diversity in senior roles on investment teams within the British private equity and venture capital industries.

How Stock Exchanges can advance Gender Equality (SSE, 2018)

This report looks at gender equality within the private sector, with a focus upon practices within stock exchanges in 13 different global markets.

Return on Equality: Investment opportunities that help close the global gender gap (BNY Mellon, 2017)

The economic gains that would exist from gender equality are quite well documented, yet it seems that they are currently being ignored. This report looks at the market potential of helping to advance gender equality.

Understanding diversity and inclusion in the investment management industry (PwC, 2018)

The investment management industry is behind the curve in terms of diversity and inclusion, and has a long way to go in terms of attracting, training, and retaining a diverse population of employees. Lack of diversity is also increasingly considered to be a reputational risk.

Gender Diversity: The real reason we are still talking about it (AMP Capital, 2019)

This paper focuses on identifying and overcoming some of the roadblocks that exist, as society progresses along the path towards greater gender diversity.

The Challenges of Diversity Investing (Research Affiliates, 2018)

This Research Affiliates paper reviews some of the academic literature on diversity, examining both the business case for diversity within corporations and the investment link between diversity and portfolio performance.