Singapore tops the list globally, with women accounting for 30% of all fund managers in the country. Singapore is followed by Portugal (28%), Spain (26%), Hong Kong (26%) and France (21%).
Out of all the 28 countries listed by Morningstar, those are the only ones that have percentages above 20%.
The findings of the report are based on 26,340 manager of funds registered in 56 countries, all of which are included in Morningstar’s global database, according to the study.
A Hong Kong-based company spokeswoman noted that the report looked at the funds available for sale in a country to determine the gender ratio, but it may be possible that a manager is not based in that country. For example, a fund manager of a Ucits fund that is for sale in Hong Kong may not be based in the SAR.
“As for why Singapore and Hong Kong have significantly have more women fund managers compared to other countries, we note that Singapore and Hong Kong also have a relatively high percentage of women CFA holders,” said Germaine Share, a Hong Kong-based senior analyst for manager research for Asia at Morningstar.
According to the report, Singapore and Hong Kong have the highest percentage of women fund managers who have CFA designation, at 29% and 26%, respectively.
“We see a CFA holder as someone with experience and expertise in the financial industry and it provides an objective measure that helps women to overcome employers’ implicit stereotypes about gender and analytical ability,” added Share, who also contributed to the study.
In larger markets, such as Australia and New Zealand, Canada, Luxembourg and the UK, the percentage of women fund managers ranges from only 11% to 14%. The US and Germany have the worst inclusion rates among larger markets, where women fund managers are 10% and 9%, respectively, according to the study.
Globally, one in five funds has at least one manager who is a woman, a figure that has not improved since the 2008 global financial crisis, it added.
