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A Worrisome Dearth Of Women In The Fund Industry: Text & Video
This is not a worrisome problem since it is slowly self-correcting as a function of time. What is true in the financial industry has been historically true in most other industries. I have first-hand experience in this arena.
Fifty-six years ago, I married the love of my life who was studying physics at that time. She was close to being the female Lone Ranger in that field at that time. Also, in my engineering class, only one female represented that sex in a cohort of about 70 engineering students. That situation is dramatically changing at the present time.
I have questioned my wife extensively about her motivations, her influences, and pressures that prompted her to swim against the prevailing tide in that period. She claims no unwanted pressures that moved her into the scientific field. For her, it was simply a matter of choice. It was what she wanted to do.
I asked if others attempted to dissuade her by treating her badly or unfairly. Again the answer was negative. Overall, other students (all male) and her instructors (all male) encouraged and helped her. It was a very positive experience with universally healthy interactions.
All this happened decades ago, and I believe the situation has improved immeasurably. It's always a mistake to automatically exclude 50% of the population from active participation. Predicting when or from where the next Warren Buffett will emerge is an impossible task. Men and women do emphasize different elements when making a decision. Each has a different decision pathway. That diversity of thinking will generate more varied approaches and better solutions when merged in a fair and respectful way.
I've learned that I'm a far more productive and more successful investor when I honestly discuss investment options with my wife. Getting more females to consider the financial industry as a life long career will improve that industry from just a sheer numbers perspective alone. But the likely improvement runs much deeper than the simple numbers game. The way in which decisions are formulated and made is greatly expanded which should benefit all of us.
When our family discusses financial matters with professionals, I am more comfortable when the professional team includes a few female members. That comfort extends well beyond trust; it includes a belief that options will be more fully explored.
stupid question. why is it a bigger issue in mutual fund industry than in any other industry? more women are going into medicine and business, and less of them trying to be pretend investors. Maybe they have more sense and sometimes sense of moral duty and know they are not needed because people should invest in index funds for the most part.
I've had the benefit some great woman professionals in many fields, including medicine, education and finance. Thumbs-up!
On the other hand: Is this the most pressing issue of the day? Let's worry about the real issues. We all probably have different lists. Near the top of mine is quality educational opportunity for all our youth. That would do a lot to take care of the gender gap as well as the racial, ethnic and income divisions in this country. A Sec. of Education from a wealthy family who (by news accounts circulating in her home state of Michigan) has never attended, sent her kids to, worked in or as far as is known been inside a public school? Give me a break.
I think this is about article quota. I'm sure women are as scarce in truck driving and shopfloor of GM plant too. But of course it will be harder to pen article regarding areas where women ARE making inroads. Besides, "dire" news somehow seems to sell more than "celebratory" news. Negative press is where the game is.
Aren't you leaping to conclusions? - That money managers are married, and - Their spouses are female.
Not easy to get this sort of data. I did run across these bit of trivia, since you broached the subject:
"We find that single CEOs, who are more likely to exhibit status concerns, are associated with firms that exhibit higher stock return volatility and pursue more aggressive investment policies."
This suggests the possibility that spouses (female or otherwise) are not "over quota" but "underrepresented" among gun slinging fund managers.
Better that fund managers should be confirmed bachelors without distractions, since "We find that marriages and divorces are associated with significantly lower fund alpha, during the six-month period surrounding the event and for up to two years after the event." Limited Attention, Marital Events and Hedge Funds
I suspect that if I look hard enough, I'll find that kids are bad for managing money too. Amazing what useless factoids one can string together.
@msf- Some of us don't need to leap to conclusions because we already have concluded all that we'll ever need to know about everything. Additional data, whether consisting of "true facts" or the other kind is not appreciated.
I was being a bit flippant, and I suspect Edmond was as well. At the same time, one often finds incomplete reasoning or random factoids used to reach what may or may not be correct conclusions (albeit for other reasons).
In contrast, I doubt there's a dearth of, say analysts, itching to become money managers. Some of the figures are comparable (5-10% female truckers and female US active fund managers), but the reasons and implications for the respective industries are different.
Comments
This is not a worrisome problem since it is slowly self-correcting as a function of time. What is true in the financial industry has been historically true in most other industries. I have first-hand experience in this arena.
Fifty-six years ago, I married the love of my life who was studying physics at that time. She was close to being the female Lone Ranger in that field at that time. Also, in my engineering class, only one female represented that sex in a cohort of about 70 engineering students. That situation is dramatically changing at the present time.
I have questioned my wife extensively about her motivations, her influences, and pressures that prompted her to swim against the prevailing tide in that period. She claims no unwanted pressures that moved her into the scientific field. For her, it was simply a matter of choice. It was what she wanted to do.
I asked if others attempted to dissuade her by treating her badly or unfairly. Again the answer was negative. Overall, other students (all male) and her instructors (all male) encouraged and helped her. It was a very positive experience with universally healthy interactions.
All this happened decades ago, and I believe the situation has improved immeasurably. It's always a mistake to automatically exclude 50% of the population from active participation. Predicting when or from where the next Warren Buffett will emerge is an impossible task. Men and women do emphasize different elements when making a decision. Each has a different decision pathway. That diversity of thinking will generate more varied approaches and better solutions when merged in a fair and respectful way.
I've learned that I'm a far more productive and more successful investor when I honestly discuss investment options with my wife. Getting more females to consider the financial industry as a life long career will improve that industry from just a sheer numbers perspective alone. But the likely improvement runs much deeper than the simple numbers game. The way in which decisions are formulated and made is greatly expanded which should benefit all of us.
When our family discusses financial matters with professionals, I am more comfortable when the professional team includes a few female members. That comfort extends well beyond trust; it includes a belief that options will be more fully explored.
Best Wishes.
On the other hand: Is this the most pressing issue of the day? Let's worry about the real issues. We all probably have different lists. Near the top of mine is quality educational opportunity for all our youth. That would do a lot to take care of the gender gap as well as the racial, ethnic and income divisions in this country. A Sec. of Education from a wealthy family who (by news accounts circulating in her home state of Michigan) has never attended, sent her kids to, worked in or as far as is known been inside a public school? Give me a break.
With so many things we legitimately need to be worrying about, is this really something that should be "worrisome"? I think absolutely NOT.
- That money managers are married, and
- Their spouses are female.
Not easy to get this sort of data. I did run across these bit of trivia, since you broached the subject:
"We find that single CEOs, who are more likely to exhibit status concerns, are associated with firms that exhibit higher stock return volatility and pursue more aggressive investment policies."
http://fbe.usc.edu/seminars/papers/F_4-8-11_ROUSSANOV-Rev.pdf
This suggests the possibility that spouses (female or otherwise) are not "over quota" but "underrepresented" among gun slinging fund managers.
Better that fund managers should be confirmed bachelors without distractions, since "We find that marriages and divorces are associated with significantly lower fund alpha, during the six-month period surrounding the event and for up to two years after the event."
Limited Attention, Marital Events and Hedge Funds
I suspect that if I look hard enough, I'll find that kids are bad for managing money too. Amazing what useless factoids one can string together.
VF suggests that women are scarce in trucking. As it turns out, Bloomberg had a piece on this a year ago - the industry is having its "Rosie the Riveter" moment - there's such a need for drivers that the industry has had to adapt, making its facilities and practices a bit less sexist.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-01/truckers-smash-stereotypes-with-boost-from-women-out-driving-men
In contrast, I doubt there's a dearth of, say analysts, itching to become money managers. Some of the figures are comparable (5-10% female truckers and female US active fund managers), but the reasons and implications for the respective industries are different.
The very definition of at least a third of online 'journalism'.