Female fund bosses win on returns as they fight for jobs

Fixed-income mutual funds run by women have outperformed funds run by men since 2003, so you’d think the number of female managers would be rising.

But the opposite is true: only 14 US debt funds were managed exclusively by women as of September 2017, compared with 47 in 2004, according to Morningstar. And the share of women overseeing bond or equity assets has stalled at about one in 10 since 2015.

That’s partly because it can take years to win a management role; and strong, confident women who entered the business several decades ago weren’t always welcomed, say some female fund managers. That dynamic combines with a shortfall of prospects entering the field, given what some see as insufficient collegerecruitment initiatives and public role models. So while achieving the highest ranks in this intensely competitive industry is difficult for either gender, it seems women are having a harder time.

“There is still a view that it’s a bit of the Wolf of Wall Street industry,” said Marie Chandoha, president US debt funds managed by women in 2017 versus 47 in 2004 and chief executive officer of Charles Schwab Investment Management. “Also there’s a misconception of women thinking they have to be a super quant to be in portfolio management. That may dissuade some from even considering” these jobs. Data show that if women can buck the trends, investors will win. During the past 15 years, actively managed fixedincome funds run by women outperformed the average returns of their respective sector category by 0.35 per cent annually, according to a new study by Morningstar. This compares with 0.16 per cent for mixed-gender teams and 0.08 per cent for male-only teams.

“Women are in tune with a good deal of what is going on in the economy,” said Elaine Stokes, a portfolio manager at Loomis Sayles & Co with three decades of experience. — Bloomberg