Over three quarters of First State’s investment professionals are male but the asset manager is increasing the number of women it employs, the firm said.
First State, a firm with $151.1 billion (€135.3 billion) of managed assets and 885 employees, revealed its diversity figures across the whole organisation for the first time in its ‘10th Responsible Investment & Stewardship Report’.
Gender diversity in asset management has increasingly come under the spotlight and Mark Lazberger, First State’s CEO, said: “Promoting diversity is not a quick fix, it is a challenge and we are committed to stay the course.”
The figures show that:
- 22% of First State’s investment professionals are female
- 70% of new starters to investment teams in the last 12 months were male
- New starters across the whole firm in the past 12 months were split 50/50 by gender
- Women form 51% of client facing professionals
The firm also said there was a 3% pay differential on gender pay.
First State established a diversity committee in 2016 to review progress related to diversity.
Elsewhere in the report, the firm showed that nearly half of First State’s staff had been with the firm for over five years.
Also, the report found many First State employees believed effective stewardship can positively influence company behaviour and returns, and that some 80% believed that environmental, social and governance considerations led to better-informed investment decisions.
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