Why finance needs more women

There goes International Women’s Day.

In financial markets, many have highlighted notable woman who have made their way to a distinctive and influential status. This is undeniably helpful, though also is an indication one can only find a few women, while everyday the commentary is predominantly from men. One day is not a good benchmark, as any asset manager would know.

A personal level has influence. For me, as a parent of three young men, I would like to see their pathways unimpeded by being male or not, whatever they chose to pursue. Others note their daughters and expect that they can do whatever they want without any reference to their gender. Ideally, it applies to all. Neither should ethnicity or disability, or rather unique ability, be a factor.

To continue on this train, as an ambitious equity analyst, for me, it had to work. By number three in the boys, I had no issue with breast feeding in corporate presentations or on a flight home. If someone had a problem, it was theirs not mine. Yet family should be the least of the considerations, parents are just that, male and female and everyone plays their part. No denying its not easy, nothing is.

This skirts the question why women are poorly represented in financial markets, particularly at the more senior levels. In other professions such as law or medicine women are much higher in the scale. The data may be generous but indicates that circa 50% of the law profession is female.

Whatever the accuracy, its easy to observe that females are rare across funds management and often advisor groups. More importantly, is there a subjective uncertainty in supporting female lead managers? It belies the nature of the role. Instinctively women have all the attributes to dominate this industry. The dry data is the least valuable source of alpha.

Corporate assessment rests with the psychology of market participants in all its forms. Understanding the nature of crowding or the attitudes of management is key to investing. History is an under-rated pathway to good investment decisions. Marketing is another major dimension of companies and funds. Females, are you interested in this?

Any person with a good understanding of these subjects should be encouraged to think about financial markets. Most importantly curiosity. Who would consider that females are incurious compared to men?

What can be done? In my view (a singular dimension) women cannot expect change to occur just because it should. I wish there were a pecking list of what to do. Both genders may have to think about their attitudes and expectations. Fund managers have a challenge in that they carp on about these issues to companies, yet don’t apply that to themselves. One female noted the irony of the fund promoting its stance on governance and board representation while fronting a cohort of singularly uniform set of humans.

It’s the old age issue of letting different voices be heard inside the industry. Providing support and mentors can help, learning from other industries and noting that this is not a dry metrics, dead person industry. All women need to bark more loudly, men can rebalance their vocal cords to ensure a diversity of voices. 

I’ll admit in talking to young (school aged) and old (a venerated club of interested women) it has been a difficult subject to get women interested in financial matters. Parents and families are integral in getting these to the minds of their sphere of influence. Shame on men that that don’t include their partners in such decisions.

In my many years in financial markets, there has been nothing more enjoyable and rewarding than the combative spirit without a gender overlay. Females should expect vigorous debate, males should expect to participate, and vice versa. What’s unique about that?

Giselle Roux

Giselle Roux is one of Australia's most well-known and highly regarded investment strategists, having held the role of Chief Investment Officer at both Escala Partners and JB Were. She has also held a number of senior equities analyst and investment banking roles including with Citigroup, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and McIntosh Securities. Giselle is a host of Inside Network events, a member of the Advisory Committee and regular contributor to the Inside Adviser and Investor publications.