International Women’s Day | Benefits to a greater female presence

In finance, unconscious biases in favor of the reassuring image of the jacket and tie are tenacious. Yet there are plenty of benefits to women taking more of a role in financial planning and portfolio management. Opinions of experts, studies and feminist funds.

Isabelle Dube
The Press

No good reason

Why these preconceived ideas? Chantal Lamoureux, CEO of the Quebec Institute of Financial Planning (IQPF), sought answers in the studies carried out by her organization. Could women’s perception of their level of financial knowledge have an effect? she wondered.

Chantal Lamoureux also analyzed the results of the exam for the financial planner diploma. Conclusion: no difference between men and women. “When you look at our top 25 scores, there are as many men as women. As for the grade point average, it’s pretty much the same too. »

In their profession, financial planners must accompany people. The CEO of the IQPF brings out a Korn Ferry study on emotional intelligence that caused a stir in 2016. The international talent management consulting firm analyzed data from 55,000 professionals in 90 countries. Results: Women have slightly higher skills than men for mentoring, coachingorganizational awareness, adaptability and leadership.

“Sometimes we have the prejudice that women have less self-control, but the study shows that they have as much as men. The same goes for stress and risk management. »

“Women behave differently than men, have different tactics and have different qualities,” explains financial planner Chantal Matos, advisory director for the Société de Gestion Privée des Fonds FMOQ, who worked for several years in teams, where she was the only woman at the table. Women are much more attentive and empathetic. Which is very useful for our profession, which requires us to be aware of people’s personal and financial situations. »

Benefits

“A diverse team makes it possible to recognize the needs of the market, to consider the opportunities that we would not see by being a homogeneous group, whose members all went to the same school and all think the same way”, observes Jérôme Nycz. , Executive Vice President, BDC Capital.

VCs with 10% women make more successful investments in portfolio companies, have 1.5% higher fund returns and 9.7% more profitable exits, study finds from Harvard University in 2019.

According to a study by Hargreaves Lansdown, conducted from August 2014 to August 2017, women’s wallets grew 0.81% more per year, on average, than those held by men.

“When it comes to asset allocation and risk tolerance, men will tend to change products and strategies often, while women will stick to their long-term goal and strategy. They make fewer transactions and will move their portfolios less,” explains Chantal Matos, Advisory Director at Gestion Privée Fonds FMOQ.

Pitfalls on the road

The lack of female role models in the venture capital industry makes it even more difficult for women to aspire to, enter and succeed in this field. Being the only woman in a man’s world puts women at an informational, psychological and relational disadvantage, says a large 2019 Harvard University study.

• Nearly 9 in 10 (86%) asset managers admit that the intended client of their products is a man. (BNY Mellon Investment Management Global Study, 2021)
• Almost three-quarters of asset managers (73%) think the investment industry would be able to attract more women to invest if the industry itself had more female fund managers. (BNY Mellon Investment Management Global Study, 2021)

Three feminist funds

BDC Capital Women in Technology Fund

• Created in 2018
• 200 millions
• Run by a female lead manager with a team of five women and one man
• It is one of the largest venture capital funds in the world, investing in 30 technology companies managed by women. It aims to have a lasting impact on the Canadian technology ecosystem.
• “The fund’s mandate is to help women entrepreneurs in technology, from the start-up phase to growth and exit, through a public offering or the sale of the company, explains Jérôme Nycz, Vice – CEO of BDC Capital. We have reached 170 million out of 200 million, so we are thinking of creating a second fund. We are also looking for one or two people to manage it. »

SocieTerra Diversity Desjardins Funds

• Created in 2020
• 188 million
• Managed by a female lead manager and two males
• This mutual fund invests in companies that have 46% more female representation on the board of directors than for comparable companies and 67% more female representation on management committees than for comparable companies.
• “The investment approach was conceptualized by a portfolio manager,” explains Marie-Justine Labelle, Team Leader, Responsible Investment, at Desjardins. We created this thematic fund, because we saw that there was an interest in the cause. When it comes to responsible investing, women, university graduates and young people tend to invest more. In terms of interest, 75% of Canadians say they are interested in responsible investing.

Mackenzie Global Women’s Leadership Fund

• Created in 2017
• Run by three women and one man
• 40 million
• The fund invests in equity securities of companies from around the world that promote gender diversity and women’s leadership.
• “In addition to the investments in the companies in which the investors will engage which will really promote equality and diversity, they also have an activist role through this. To really engage with business, promote and improve levels of equal pay and female leadership. The fund is for anyone who wants to promote diversity and inclusion,” explains Karine Abgrall-Teslyk, Vice-President, Head of Personal Banking Services at Laurentian Bank.