In November of 2021, IQ-EQ set up ‘Launchpad’, a new spin on the firm’s usual offering of fund administration and capacity building. Designed as a leg-up for would-be female fund managers who have not yet managed to find the right support, funds with 50 percent women ownership or a female founder will be offered a 15 percent discount on all key administration and accounting service fees.
Emma Crabtree, group chief commercial officer at IQ-EQ, said that “as a leading investor services provider we saw ourselves as uniquely positioned to do something tangible that would benefit first time women fund managers; one step in our support for greater diversity and inclusion within our sector."
As well as the 15 percent discount fees, Launchpad also uses “gender-smart practices at both a client and firm-level”.
Emma Crabtree
Research shows that women are underrepresented among investment decision-makers at private equity and venture capital firms, as well as in the leadership of companies that receive this investment capital. Indeed, a shocking statistic published last year by Morningstar showed that there are still more men called Dave managing UK funds than there are women.
There are a number of theories behind what could be causing the lag: closed networks, unconscious biases, and lack of gender diversity commitments rank among the most commonly cited.
But the underrepresentation of women is also true on the client side. Earlier this month, BNY Mellon released a study if women invested at the same rate as men there could be more than $3.22 trillion of additional capital to invest globally, with over $1.87 trillion flowing to more responsible investments.
According to BNY Mellon’s report, women may be investing less of their wealth because of the perception that investing is high-risk and requires a lot of disposable income, or that women simply lack confidence and are less likely to be engaged.
Whatever the reason for the imbalance – the assumption that affirmative action can effectively redress it is a large one. As the number of female fund managers grows steadily (hopefully soon outstripping the Daves), the results should speak for themselves.
