This edition of Portfolio Adviser is, to the best of my knowledge, a first. In recognition that International Women’s Day falls on 8 March, this magazine is filled to the brim with female contributors and interviews with women.
Diversity continues to be a challenge for financial services. Research from Bonhill Intelligence found that, of all the funds available to UK investors, only 2.4% were managed by women. In our cover story
(p18), we dive deeper into the numbers and talk to the managers of three of those top performing funds about their experiences and views on gender diversity in the industry.
Quilter Cheviot’s Poppy Fox is looking to dispel the myth that women are risk-averse investors (p36), while Judith MacKenzie from Downing Fund Managers welcomes a break from the monotonous growth driven bull market of the past decade (p32).
Unigestion chief executive Fiona Frick talks about remaining relevant and discusses whether asset management has become more appealing for women (p42).
The tragic events unfolding in Ukraine also take centre stage in this edition. Most of the biggest firms in the world have vacated the region and asset managers have shut down funds in light of the sanctions imposed on Russia. Ballooning oil and gas prices, against a backdrop of rapidly rising
inflation and persistent supply chain issues, are converging to give investors some sleepless nights.
The asset allocation team at Abrdn has worked hard to block out the headlines and focus on its framework and performance drivers, says Karolina Noculak (p40). We also have contributed articles from Janet Mui at Brewin Dolphin, Modupe Adegbembo at Axa IM, Susannah Streeter from Hargreaves Lansdown and Alison Savas at Antipodes Partners.
