Representation of women fund managers still dismal: Report

Despite a growth in the number of women mutual fund managers in the past one year, they represent an abysmal 8 percent of the total fund managers in India, as per a report by Morningstar.

Out of total 345 fund managers across mutual fund houses in the country, there are just 29 women fund managers who are managing funds either as primary/secondary managers or have oversight as heads of equity/debt. Last year, the number was 24.

These 29 women managers handle 15 percent of the total assets under management (AUM) totalling approx. Rs 3.41 lakh crore, up approx. 11 percent from last year, the report said. Interestingly, out of the total funds managed by women, three-fourths are debt funds and rest are equity.

"Though the growth in the women manager presence is pleasing, it is still considerably below global standards with many Asian countries showing amongst the highest representation of women in the mutual fund industry," the report said.

Out of the total assets managed by women fund managers, 52 percent of the AUM outperformed the benchmark/peer group average over 1-year basis, 55 percent over 3-year basis and 56 percent over 5-year basis.

"Though these numbers (outperforming percentage) has seen a drop from last year, we believe re-categorisation was one of the reasons for this, in addition, some of the significantly large funds have witnessed some underperformance lately that has skewed the overall numbers," the report added.

Some of the women fund managers leading the mantle for gender diversification are Lakshmi Iyer – CIO (Debt) and Head of Products at Kotak Mahindra Asset Management, Sunaina Da Cunha – Fund Manager at Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management and Swati Kulkarni – Executive Vice President and Fund Manager (Equities) at UTI Asset Management Company.