Recruitment into investment teams currently sits at two men per one woman, according to Redington research, suggesting the asset management industry is making little progress on gender diversity.
The investment consultant’s 2022 Sustainable Investment Survey, which analysed responses from 122 managers representing £37.7 trillion in assets under management, revealed 97% of managers believed that diverse teams helped deliver a better investment strategy, though, for every one female hire, a manager was, on average, recruiting two men.
For the average investment team, the gender split was 78% men and 22% women, the survey found, while just 5% of investment teams consisted of more than 40% women.
Over half were three-quarters men or more – a 2% increase on last year.
Sarah Miller, vice president at Redington, said: “While it is encouraging that managers are so positive about the benefits that diverse teams can bring, there sadly remains little evidence to suggest this is translating into hard action.”
Miller explained that a reason commonly cited for the uneven gender split in financial services was retention challenges, though this was not reflected in the survey results.
“On average, there was no gap in turnover in 2021 between men and women,” Miller said. “There is, however, a gender gap in recruitment figures, with one female investment team hire for every two men. This means that the pace of change to address the balance remains glacial, and we’re still a long way from societal or even broader industry levels of representation.”
The industry is lagging in diversity efforts across the board. Overall, 58% said they considered their investment teams to reflect the regional demographics of where they were based.
The number of managers disclosing the ethnicity data of their investment teams dropped compared to last year, from 39% to 32%, while representation of black investment professionals continued to be notably low – at just 2%.
Representation of Asian and mixed groups sat at 23% and 4%, respectively.
“These statistics uncover the uncomfortable truth as to how underrepresented some minority groups continue to be in our industry. Diversity is not just about recruiting individuals to meet a quota, it is about seeking out candidates who will bring valuable new perspectives to the table, thanks to their different backgrounds, skillsets and experiences,” Miller added.
She said a closer link between senior remuneration and diversity performance was something the industry should strive for over the next year.
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