Commentating on the release of Tilney Bestinvest’s third annual analysis of diversity within the industry, Morrissey said: “As an industry we need to do a better job explaining what we actually do, including our social purpose, so that new ‘types’ of people might be attracted to fund management.”
She added: “Cognitive diversity is such an important aspect of building great teams – including teams of investors.”
Jason Hollands, Tilney Bestinvest MD, said that while there remain a handful of high-profile women in senior management positions within the industry, front-office positions continue to be dramatically out of line with the proportion of women graduating from universities.
Indeed, the firm said, the figures, based on an analysis of the five largest Investment Association sectors, reflect “a large disparity” between the UK retail fund management industry and other professions.
At 9%, the mixed investment 40-85% sector has the highest representation, while the UK Equity Income space has the smallest at 5%. This is significantly lower than representation on the boards of FTSE 100 companies Tilney said by way of comparison, where women account for 23.5% of positions.
By way of comparison, in 2014, the mixed investment 40-85% sector had a 10% representation, while UK Equity Income sat at 4%.
The Global Sector slipped from 8% to 7% between 2014 and 2015, while the UK All Companies and Corporate Bond sectors remained static at 7% and 8% respectively.
In 2013, the first year of the study, the overall average was 5%, with UK Equity Income the lowest at 2%, while the All Companies sector was highest with 7% of funds fun by women.
