Women under-represented in alternative asset industry

Just one in 10 senior staff at alternative assets firms is female, according to the first comprehensive study of its kind, highlighting the severe lack of women at fund management companies.

The research, conducted by Preqin, the data provider, revealed that overall only 18.8 per cent of women make up the alternative assets fund total workforce.

But the underrepresentation of women is at its most severe in private equity where only 17.9 per cent are women. Female staff represent 20.6 per cent of overall employees at venture capital companies.

The proportion of female employees falls with seniority, the report, which analysed a database of 200,000 professionals, showed. Women make up just 11 per cent of senior staff with the gap particularly dramatic in private equity where only 9 per cent of women make it to the top.

“Traditionally a male-dominated industry, the proportion of female employees across the industry is significantly less than 50 per cent, with only investor relations teams in some asset class approaching or surpassing a rate of equal representation,” said Amy Bensted, head of hedge fund products at Preqin.

“The industry has some way to go before achieving true parity between genders,” she added.

The low representation of women at alternative asset management companies has been under intense scrutiny in recent years.

However, the proportion of women in the industry remains low despite research suggesting that having women in senior positions is good for investors. The HFRX Women index, which compiles the performance of female hedge fund managers, performed better than a similar index including a broader gauge of hedge funds across all genders.

The industry has some way to go before achieving true parity between genders

More than 50 per cent of investor relations staff at venture capital companies are women and half at private equity, representing the highest proportion of female employees in all asset classes.

By contrast, in nearly all asset classes deal teams have the smallest proportion of women, ranging from 18 per cent at natural resources companies to 10 per cent at hedge funds.

Helen Steers, a partner at Pantheon and co-founder of the Level 20 initiative to bring more women into private equity, said a way to solve the gender imbalance is to recruit people from less traditional “sources”.

She said: “Private equity has recognised the need to do more to encourage women to consider private equity as a career — and while there is much work yet to be done, there are real signs of progress already being made.”