Many female fund managers are outperforming male rivals, says survey
MANY FEMALE fund managers are proving to be smarter investors than their male rivals, at a time when relatively few women are reaching the top in the fund management sector, according to a new study.
The research carried out by online investment platform rplan.co.uk found that nine of the top 50 performing retail funds available to UK investors over the last five years were managed by women.
However, the proportion of female retail fund managers in the UK is just nine per cent.
Stuart Dyer, Rplan.co.uk’s chief information officer, said: “There are plenty of studies that show female fund managers constitute a small minority of retail fund managers in the UK. But our analysis shows that they punch above their weight in the performance stakes.
“We can only speculate as to why this might be the case. It may be that women have to be better to succeed or it may be that they naturally have a more prudent approach to managing money.
“Analysis of our own clients’ behaviour has shown that female investors opt for less risky investments.
“Whatever the reasons, ultimately, investors should be happy to have a proven manager with good track record, regardless of gender.”
A growing number of organisations, including the Fawcett Society, are campaigning to tackle problems caused by the lack of women in decision-making positions across the worlds of business and politics .