In a statement, the FSC said it had launched the Women in Investment Management charter that its member fund managers could sign up to, committing to a number of internal initiatives to boost gender diversity.
Signatories to the charter would need to appoint a senior executive responsible for gender diversity within the investment management team, set internal targets for gender diversity in the investment management division, report annually on progress against targets and link the pay of relevant staff to delivery against gender diversity targets.
The FSC said eight fund managers had already signed up to the charter, including Australian Ethical, Challenger, Mercer and First Sentier Investors.
The industry body’s chief executive, Sally Loane, said the charter had come about as a result of FSC member research that found women made up just 25 per cent of investment teams in domestic and global fund managers.
“While this is a solid result, and a significant improvement on a 2017 survey by Frontier Advisors which showed women made up just 14 per cent of Australian equity management teams, the FSC and the industry recognise there is still more to do to achieve equality in the funds management industry,” Ms Loane said.
“We are launching the charter to promote diversity in investment teams, and we are pleased that eight of our fund management members have signed the charter already.”
David Bryant, CEO of charter signatory Mercer, said the company recognised that “the investment industry must act to address systemic imbalances”.
“Shifting the dial requires a deep level of commitment, investment and consistency to move from what we say we will do in policy, to what we actually do in practice,” Mr Bryant said.
“The charter focuses specifically on addressing gender diversity in active investment functions or investment execution roles, where we see the lowest levels of female representation, such as portfolio managers or analysts.
“The charter introduces valuable accountability and transparency mechanisms to enable organisations to achieve their self-nominated, gender diversity target.”
