“Women better fund managers than men”

Poll finds most in the industry believe females are more suited for the job.

Females traits – such as risk aversion and attention to detail – make women better fund managers than men.

According to the poll by Ignites Europe, the majority of asset management professionals believe that women hold the upper hand when ti comes to asset management.

Men do not possess the skills needed to match the success of their female counterparts, say two-thirds of professionals.

A female respondent to the poll from a US-based fund house, who wants to remain anonymous, says women make better managers because the are more “methodical, loyal and consistent”.

She say: “Decisions of risk are weighted appropriately with other factors like compensation and the next career move. The do not ignore gut feelings.”

“To generalize, then men go shopping, their approach is that of a hunter who must conquer; so portfolios tend to reflect behaviour of a herd – ignoring their instincts.”

She adds: “By contrast, when women go shopping they are goal-oriented and approach it as an experience. The benefits are that women tend to invest more time to spot trends and independently use multiple senses to determine value before they make a decision”

A female professional at French asset management house agrees. Women are “less impulsive and more thorough”, she says.

This comes as figures released last week by French fund association AFG identified that equity funds managed by women have produced more consistent results than those managed by men, over a five-year, three-year and one-year period.

The results show that although female-led funds are rarely among the top performers, they are less frequently found among those products at the bottom of the performance league table and are much less volatile than those funds run by men.

The women involved in the AFG findings claim their success is the result of a lack of ego. However, a male respondent from a global asset management house, believes the differentiator is one of risk tolerance, not gender. “A man who is risk-aware will outperform a woman who is not over time,” he says.

Some even suggest the economic crisis will benefit women in the long run as they have lower levels of risk appetite.

“I don’t believe women are represented enough at the moment, it seems to me that women sometimes approach risk in a different way to men, and in some cases they may choose not to take risks that are as great”.

“In the current environment, this is what is needed. Women are strong negotiators and understand the bigger picture without being swayed by short-term financial gains.” She adds.

However, others believe comparing men and women does not reflect the reality of the workplace any more.

Sophie Horsfall, co-fund manager of F&C’s Global Climate Opportunities fund, says the poll’s results are irrelevant because many women will always have worked as a part of a mixed sex team.

“Most fund managers work as part of a team where they will have support analysts and an alternate manager on their fund. So even if they are the lead manager, they have a team who help them in the work that the do,” she says.

“All fund managers have different styles and I really don’t think it comes down to what sex the fund manager is.”

However, Ms Horsfall acknowledges that there are some firms where women could come up against the glass ceiling and where it might be more difficult if the can’t necessarily put in tall the hours that are needed for the job.