Morningstar Research Finds Women are Underrepresented in U.S. Fund Industry Compared with Other Professions
CHICAGO, June 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research (NASDAQ: MORN), today published a research report that finds women are underrepresented in the U.S. fund industry relative to other professions requiring similar education.
Key highlights of the report include:
- Women exclusively run approximately 2 percent of the industry's assets and open-end funds. By contrast, men exclusively run about 74 percent of assets and 78 percent of funds, with mixed-gender teams accounting for the rest.
- Among the largest open-end fund companies, by assets under management, Dodge & Cox leads the way—25 percent of the firm's fund managers are women. Franklin Templeton is next with nearly 15 percent, followed by JPMorgan at approximately 14 percent. Lord Abbett comes in last among the industry's largest firms with just one woman fund manager.
- Though the sample is relatively small, the performance of exclusively women-run funds rivals that of funds managed by men, even though women tend to manage smaller, pricier funds in niche areas.
- Less than 10 percent of all U.S. fund managers are women compared with accountants and auditors, at 63 percent; doctors, at 37 percent; and lawyers, at 33 percent.
Laura Pavlenko Lutton, a director of manager research for Morningstar, said, "More women in the United States are making their own investment decisions than ever before, yet the ranks of professional female fund managers remain exceedingly small. We think shifting demographics may prompt the most change in the fund industry."
Morningstar's report also explored the lack of long-term performance records for female fund managers and evaluated statistics related to education and professional designations. Additional findings include:
- Thirty-seven women have run a mutual fund for at least a decade through March 31, 2015; in several cases, those women co-managed the funds with men for at least part of the decade.
- Fewer women attend business school than medical school or law school. In 2013, about 37 percent of master's degrees in business administration were earned by women, while women earned 47 percent of law degrees and medical degrees.
- Less than 17 percent of the United States' 50,898 Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) designations are held by women. Meanwhile, women in Australia represent 18 percent of CFA charterholders, 19 percent in the United Kingdom, 27 percent in Hong Kong, and 31 percent in Singapore.
The full report is available here, and an article summarizing the findings is available here. Morningstar representatives will discuss the topic of women in investing at two upcoming events. On Wednesday, June 3, Heather Brilliant, CFA, chief executive officer for Morningstar Australasia Pty Ltd., will participate on a panel, "Women and Alpha: Where Women Provide an Investment Edge," at the CFA Institute Conference: Women in Investment Management in San Antonio, Texas. More information is available here.
At the annual Morningstar Investment Conference, taking place June 24-26 in Chicago, one of the three free preconference sessions for registered attendees will address women and investing. The pre-conference track will tackle how women invest differently than men, whether advisors are adequately serving female investors, and how advisors can prepare for the transfer of wealth from men to women over the coming decades. More information is available at http://global.morningstar.com/MICUS.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. Morningstar provides data on approximately 500,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 15 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries and had more than $179 billion in assets under advisement and management as of March 31, 2015. The company has operations in 27 countries.
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SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.
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