Sexual Harassment Rife In Asset Management Industry - Global Survey

Sandra Kilhof

29 November 2013

Almost a third of female asset management staff have been subjected to sexual harassment at work, while more than half have endured regular sexist behaviour in the office, according to the results of an international Financial Times fm survey. A UK industry body told WealthBriefing it is calling for help to whistleblowers who are willing to report gender bias in asset management.

Surveying 340 global fund management staff, the survey revealed that over a third of women in the industry are subject to sexist conduct on a monthly or weekly basis.

One female respondent, who works at a large US fund house, said in the report that several female colleagues had left fund management “as a direct result of gender discrimination and harassment”.

“I was sexually harassed on countless occasions. It ranged from comments about my appearance and breasts to salesmen calling me and asking if I was wearing knickers. I left the industry when my boss sexually harassed me on an overseas work trip, threatening to end my career and ruin my reputation if I didn’t do what he wanted,” she said.

Another female executive based in Europe says that the few women who work at her alternative fund company are “treated like second-class citizens”.

Tim May, chief executive of the Wealth Management Association, the industry body representing a chunk of the sector, told WealthBriefing: “Firms have an ethical and legal responsibility to ensure fair treatment for all their staff at their place of work.”

It's a man's world

The FT survey also spoke to several male participants who said that “gender discrimination is rife” in the industry. A male associate at a UK fund house said that “the rugby-team mentality still dominates in the boardroom and women only get on if they play the ‘team tart’ or the ‘ball-breaking ice maiden’, which are both unhealthy extremes”.

Another man added that “women seem to be used for certain roles, such as marketing or corporate finance, where their ‘charms’ are exploited. They are welcome elsewhere in the business as long as they ape alpha-male behaviour, or are seen but not heard”.

This is consistent with the survey findings, with 16 per cent of women saying they have felt pressured to exploit their sexuality in a professional context.

Helena Morrissey, chief executive of Newton Investment Management, the UK fund company, said in the report that having her first child meant she was “passed over” for a promotion. Later in her career a female colleague warned her that her company was “not keen” on working mothers. Morrissey is not the only female asset manager to have experienced issues with maternity leave - 69 per cent cited it as a barrier to career success, said the FT.

A senior male respondent even added that the asset management culture “is intolerant of women who want to have children and return to work”.

Gender bias bad for business

However, firms should think twice about allowing such intolerance. These types of gender bias can have consequences for the firm’s business, the Wealth Management Association told WealthBriefing.

“Failure to attract and retain good female staff threatens the firm’s ability to access the entire pool of talent and ultimately is bad for their businesses. Often gender inequality can stem from a firm’s processes, institutional issues and culture in addition to the managers that follow on from the hiring process,” explained May.

The survey also revealed a wide gulf in how the industry’s men and women perceive gender discrimination in the workplace. Roughly two-thirds of women believe men in equivalent roles are paid more, but less than a fifth of men agree. Similarly, 60 per cent of women said that they are promoted more slowly than male counterparts, although just a quarter of men agree.

Shiv Taneja, managing director of Cerulli Associates, which assisted FTfm with the research, urges companies to be more transparent about the make-up of their organisations to tackle such “horrifying” findings.

“Employers have a lot to answer for. It is time asset managers put their heads above the parapet on this hugely important issue,” said Taneja to the FT.

Calls for industry action

The Wealth Management Association said that the survey’s revelations call for broad solutions to end sexual harassment in the industry.

“WMA supports suggestions for more widespread bias-training being readily available alongside a whistle-blowing hotline which assists tackling these issues head on. We are optimistic that changes are happening and that further developments can be made,” added May.

Similarly, Mark McCombe, Asia-Pacific chairman at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company, which was co-founded by two women, believes the survey should act as “a wake-up call to companies globally to end sexual discrimination in all forms”.