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6. Women in Investment Management Charter

The FSC Women in Investment Management Charter (WIM Charter) builds on the FSC Guidance Note 38 – Improving Gender Balance in Investment Management Teams (GN38) and the gender diversity resource library which have been developed to provide members with practical tools and guidance to support greater gender balance within investment management teams.

Various research findings shows that women are underrepresented in investment management roles.

Women in Investment Management Charter

To help support greater gender balance in these roles, the FSC has launched the WIM Charter which introduces accountability and transparency mechanisms to enable organisations to achieve their desired, self-nominated, gender diversity target within their investment management teams. Signatories adopt the following four principles:

• appoint a senior executive from the investment management team who is responsible and accountable for gender diversity within the investment management team;
• set internal targets for gender diversity in investment management division;
• monitor and report annually on progress against targets; and
• demonstrate an intention to link the pay of staff to delivery against the gender diversity target.
  

The framework for the WIM Charter is based on HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter (UK Charter), a pledge aimed at improving the gender balance across financial services in the United Kingdom. While the focus for the UK Charter is broader and is aimed at increasing gender balance in senior management, the WIM Charter is focused specifically on gender balance in investment management teams.

Eight WIM Charter Signatories

We are pleased to have eight members collectively managing more than $600 billion in assets under management sign this voluntary initiative to date:

• AllianceBernstein Australia Limited;
• Australian Ethical Investment Ltd;
• Challenger Limited;
• First Sentier Investors;
• Mercer;
• QIC Limited;
• Russell Investment Group; and
• State Street Global Advisors Australia Limited.

Further details on the WIM Charter is included in FSC Guidance Note 38 – Improving Gender Balance in Investment Management Teams (GN38).

FSC Women in investment management charter

Through the FSC Women in Investment Management Charter we are providing industry leadership to ensure more women can secure careers in investment management teams – because today, the numbers are still low. See more below.

Gender Equality in Investment Management Webinar event

The FSC was pleased to co-host Gender Equality in Investment Management Webinar discussion with Mercer on the 12th of August.

Moderated by Michelle Lopez, Head of Australian Equities at Aberdeen Standard Investments and panellists, including:

• David Bryant, President, Pacific Region & CEO, Mercer Australia and FSC Chairman;
• Kylie Willment, Chief Investment Officer, Mercer Pacific;
• Jodie Hampshire, Managing Director for Australia, Russell Investments;

shared great insights into the opportunities and challenges faced by the industry to help achieve greater gender balance in investment teams.

There was acknowledgment that this is a multifaceted issue, which is not just about encouraging more women to choose funds management as a career path, but also requires a focus on retention strategies to ensure talented people are not lost as personal and professional requirements change over the course of a person’s career (for example once family commitments arise and greater flexibility for working arrangements is commonly sought) as well as hiring strategies. In this context, it is helpful to look beyond years of experience and also focus on who will be the best fit for the team.

To hear more insights into this important topic, please watch the video below.