Women have made some progress in areas such as passive funds and funds of funds but actively-managed funds are more likely to be a male bastion.

A survey by data and research provider Morningstar looked at 56 countries and found that on average one in five funds has a female portfolio manager around the world. In the study’s eight-year timeframe the UK ratio of 13% has not improved.

The company’s second research report about fund managers and gender looked at more than 26,000 fund managers, comparing the male-to-female ratio of fund managers to other professions that require similar education, including doctors and lawyers, by country. The report also identifies areas of the industry where women have been making relative gains.

Key highlights of the research report include:
• In the UK, 13% of fund managers in 2015 were women, the same ratio as in 2008, the first year included in the research.
• In France, Hong Kong, Israel, Singapore, and Spain, at least 20 percent of fund managers are women.
• Singapore is the global leader among 56 countries with women representing 30 percent of total fund managers and 29 percent of Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) charterholders.
• Large financial centres, such as Brazil, India, Germany, and the United States, are behind the global average of 12.9 percent women fund managers. In India, only 7 percent of fund managers are women.
• In some asset classes, women fund managers are more qualified than men. A woman fund manager is approximately 7 percent and 4 percent more likely than a male peer to have her CFA designation among equity and fixed-income funds, respectively.
• Women have better odds of running funds in areas of industry growth such as passive, funds of funds, and team-managed funds; women are 19 percent more likely to manage on a team than men.
• It appears difficult for women to achieve management roles in more-established parts of the fund industry, including actively managed funds and solo-managed funds. In fact, women are 36% less likely to manage an active equity fund than men.

Laura Pavlenko Lutton, Morningstar’s director of manager research in North America, said: “Women are underrepresented in mutual funds’ leadership ranks globally, with larger markets farther behind smaller markets.”

“We did find areas where women are finding more opportunity, specifically among passive funds, funds of funds, and team-managed funds. Larger equity firms are also more likely to promote women to fund-management roles than smaller firms.”