At 8%, women still underrepresented among ranks of mutual fund managers: Report
2 min read 04 Mar 2022, 03:51 PM ISTThe report further added that the total open-ended and closed-end assets managed by women fund managers was approximately ₹4.55 trillion, which was 12% of the total mutual fund assets
PremiumWomen remain drastically underrepresented in the Indian mutual fund industry with research showing that out of the 399 fund managers in the country, 32 are women, who are managing funds either as primary or secondary managers or have oversight as heads of equity or debt.
As per the report by Morningstar Investment Adviser India, currently, the total count of women fund managers has increased from 30 last year to 32 now. Interestingly, the total number of fund managers saw a healthy increase this year up from 376 managers seen last year.
“With a meagre 8% representation, women still remain drastically underrepresented among the ranks of mutual fund managers. That said, the representation in percentage terms has been on the rise over the last two years albeit marginally," Morningstar said in the report.
The report further added that the total open-ended and closed-end assets managed by women fund managers was approximately ₹4.55 trillion, which was 12% of the total mutual fund assets ( ₹38.01 trillion as of 31 January end).
“Over the last few years, while the assets managed by women are on the rise, in percentage terms of the overall industry assets, this number has not been something to boast about. Last year, this number was 13.5%. Having said that, over the years there is certainly a rise in the number of women fund managers in the mutual fund industry," the report said.
When the report on women fund managers was first launched in 2017, there were only 18 women fund managers. This increased to 24 in 2018, 29 in 2019, then reduced to 28 in 2020 and again increased to 30 in 2021 followed by 32 in 2022.
From the perspective of assets managed across various asset classes, out of the total open-ended and closed-end fund assets managed by women ( ₹4.55 trillion), approximately ₹2.19 trillion (48%) were fixed-income funds (excluding money market, liquid and overnight funds), ₹0.81 trillion (18%) were money market funds, liquid and overnight funds, ₹1.12 trillion (25%) were equity funds, ₹0.39 trillion (9%) were allocation funds and the solution and other category cumulated to 0.02 trillion (0.6%).
Scrutinizing the data further throws up some interesting bright spots especially related to fund performance.
The report showed that out of the total open-ended assets managed by women fund managers, 69% of the assets under management (AUM) outperformed the peer group average on a one-year basis, 96% of the AUM outperformed on a three-year basis and 69% of the AUM outperformed on a five-year basis.
Further, the 32 women fund managers were spread across 19 fund houses, with four fund houses having three or more women fund managers. As many as four fund houses had two women fund managers while 11 fund houses had at least one woman fund manager.
When it comes to tenure, nine fund managers have managed funds consistently for over five years. eight fund managers have been managing funds between two and five years, and 15 fund managers have a relatively lower experience of managing / co-managing funds below two years.
