Women are well-educated, motivated, determined, and yet they are under-represented on corporate management levels.
The German fund industry wants to change that. For example, the BVI recently published its analysis guidelines foranalysis guidelines for Annual General Meetings 2021 (ALHV) .
They serve as a guide for the member companies for the independent analysis of resolution proposals for the general meeting of listed and unlisted companies, and have been applicable since 1 January 2021.
These guidelines state, for example:
"Critical factors in the election of members of the Board of Directors, Supervisory Board or Board of Directors are:
- - lack of diversity, in particular taking into account gender, age or qualifications;
- - failure to achieve self-set corporate objectives for diversity;“
This is a step in the right direction and we welcome asset managers paying attention to the way companies are concerned about diversity, such as gender justice.
Fondsfrauen investigate the proportion of women in fund companies in Germany
One thing is reviewing third-party diversity goals, and the other is meeting diversity goals in their own area.
That's why the Fondsfrauen set out to get an idea of the composition of the management in the German asset management industry. The data basis is all 115 companies that are full members of the BVI.
Depending on whether the asset managers are a limited liability company or an AG ( stock company) , there are usually several members of the Management Board or the Executive Board. We have recorded all of them by name. Only with four out of 115 companies we were unable to find out about the management by name, either through internet research or through multiple requests.
14.7% women in the management of BVI companies
In total, there are 367 members, including 54 women, on the top boards of the BVI full member societies. This corresponds to a female rate of 14.7%. This is not very much, but at least more than the proportion of women among portfolio managers, which we found in a previous study with 6.6% (this study of portfolio managers from the funds located in Germany, however, dates back to 2015).
Here is another comparison: the proportion of women in the top 30 Dax groups was 16.6% at the beginning of March 2021, after falling to 12.8% six months ago.
Our analysis of the German fund industry initially suggested that the proportion of women among real estate asset managers was particularly high, but this could not be confirmed statistically. The proportion of women in the management of those companies that manage real estate exclusively or predominantly is 13.1%, and for those who manage real estate in addition to other asset classes, it is 15.06%. So there is no significant deviation from the overall average of 14.7%.
Stock companies have a higher quota for women than limited liability companies
However, there is a difference in the proportion of women in legal forms: the majority of asset managers operate as a limited liability company (72%). For them, the proportion of women in the management is 13.57%.
27% of BVI full-member companies operate as an AG ( stock traded company) . They account for 17.3% of female board members.
One reason could be that public limited companies see themselves in a stronger public light than Limited Companies and therefore pay more attention to visible governance rules.
So far little attention for women's quota among asset managers
So far, the women's quota has not been given much attention in the management of fund companies. We therefore welcome the fact that the proportion of women in some societies is already very high. We would like to mention them in particular and therefore list them in the table below.
These BVI full-member companies already have a particularly high proportion of women (over 30%) in their management.
| Company | Number of members of the Executive Board | Of which are women | Number of women in management |
| Acatis Investment KVG mbH | 3 | 1 | 33,3% |
| Allianz Global Investors GmbH | 6 | 2 | 33,3% |
| Internationale Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH | 3 | 1 | 33,3% |
| Lyxor Funds Solutions S.A. | 3 | 1 | 33,3% |
| PATRIZIA Frankfurt KVG mbH | 3 | 1 | 33,3% |
| Schroder Investment Management (Europe) S.A., German Branch | 6 | 2 | 33,3% |
| UBS Real Estate GmbH | 3 | 1 | 33,3% |
| Invesco Asset Management Deutschland GmbH | 5 | 2 | 40,0% |
| Legal & General Investment Management | 7 | 3 | 42,9% |
| LGIM Managers (Europe) Limited, Germany | 9 | 4 | 44,4% |
| Alceda Fund Management S.A. | 4 | 2 | 50,0% |
| Capital International Management Company Sàrl – Niederlassung Deutschland | 2 | 1 | 50,0% |
| CREDIT SUISSE ASSET MANAGEMENT Immobilien Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH | 2 | 1 | 50,0% |
| DWS Investment S.A. | 4 | 2 | 50,0% |
| DWS Real Estate GmbH | 2 | 1 | 50,0% |
| PATRIZIA Immobilien KVG mbH | 2 | 1 | 50,0% |
| Principal Real Estate Spezialfondsgesellschaft mbH | 2 | 1 | 50,0% |
| Savills Fund Management GmbH | 2 | 1 | 50,0% |
| State Street Global Advisors GmbH | 2 | 1 | 50,0% |
| Warburg Invest AG | 2 | 1 | 50,0% |
| BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management Germany GmbH | 3 | 2 | 66,7% |
| BNY Mellon Service Kapitalanlage-Gesellschaft mbH | 3 | 2 | 66,7% |
| NN Investment Partners B.V., German Branch | 1 | 1 | 100,0% |
| Swiss Life Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH | 2 | 2 | 100,0% |
| Wellington Management International Ltd, Niederlassung Deutschland | 1 | 1 | 100,0% |
Source: March 2021 Fondsfrauen Survey
Anke Dembowski is a financial journalist and author of various investment fund-related and other financial books. She is also a co-founder of the "Fondsfrauen" network.