THE POWER OF REPRESENTATION

Every ‘She did it’ motivates and inspires more women to believe they can do it too

What our participants said:

The importance of having a voice and knowing your voice counts

This is the most critical part of accelerating transformation as it sets the foundation for women to understand that their voices can be a tool to drive transformation, not only in the workplace but in society Instilling self-belief and confidence in young women is necessary for transformation

Letshego Rankin, head of institutional business at Prescient Investment Management

I am intrigued to learn that the vast majority of women leaders in asset management went to girls’ schools It would be interesting to find out how many male leaders in the industry attended boys’ schools as opposed to mixed-sex education Another important question is whether leaders of industry generally attended private or Model C-type schools In my experience as a parent of a son and daughter who attended former Model C schools (not private or highly affluent schools), the learners are given a clear sense of their place in the world, their responsibility in it and the possibilities that lie ahead just because they are privileged to be at these schools onment within the industry itself, being historically set up as an “old boys’ club” structured to exclude women, as well as being an industry that has been broadly unsupportive of women given their multiple roles in society

Delphine Govender, chief investment officer of Perpetua Investment Management

en A few young people are privileged to receive this kind of training elsewhere by virtue of their extracurricular involvement, but the majority are lacking in it, and this could be incredibly beneficial, especially to young women Leadership skills could include EQ, transactional analysis, personal mastery, decisionmaking, critical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills These have historically been known as soft skills but more recently have become known as the hard skills

Alicia Davids, CEO of the Asisa Academy

The report highlights the value of considering intersectionality in data analysis It demonstrates the intersection between beginning at the beginning the influence of homes and the wider social structures in which women are brought up and their subsequent experiences in the workplace and their self-efficacy This is particularly important in a country like South Africa, where patriarchy, along with the enduring legacies of racial and gender discrimination, continues to deeply affect all aspects of women ’ s lives

Fatima Vawda, MD of 27four Investment Managers, and Mardé van Wyk, private markets consultant

Jennifer Henry, president of

the CFA

Society South Africa

In my 25 years of direct involvement in the investment industry, almost all the informal and formal engagements around the material lack of senior women in our industry have culminated in one narrative: women

What stands out in the report is that women leaders in the asset management industry have a strong sense of self-confidence, which emanates from a particular upbringing and schooling system In addition, knowing that women graduates show the necessary technical aptitude, what could be included in school and university curricula and even graduate programmes in the workplace is business leadership training for young wom-

There is an underlying pattern that without women ’ s representation, peer support and visibility, coupled with sponsorship from key decision-makers, it is difficult for most to imagine that becoming a key decision-maker is possible This emphasises that mentorship and access to role models are imperative to model the possibilities that exist for women investment professionals Basically, every “She did it” motivates and inspires more women to believe they can do it too, especially when industry players provide meaningful opportunities for them

It is a call to arms to equip women investment professionals with the tech-

The keys to success

From the study:

TWhat really stood out for us in this study were the areas of commonality between those women who achieved success This commonality occurred in areas we hadn’t expected Apparently, “it all begins at the beginning”. Women who perceived themselves as being successful in their careers repeatedly attributed this success to the fact that it had been ingrained in them since childhood that “their voice was worth hearing and could add value”. This seemed to pertain no matter what their demographic background

Other common themes related to education being seen as a top priority, economic self-sufficiency as a necessity, and having strong role models who would take an active interest

Women who succeeded were women who didn’t need a roadmap they were prepared to assume risks without necessarily demanding commensurate rewards This may in turn have contributed to the fact that the older cohorts were invariably underpaid and undervalued in their earlier careers.

Our suggestion:

The salary disparity gap seems to have narrowed substantially of late, given demands for equal recognition for equal work. But compensation of investment professionals is particularly problematic irrespective of gender or race.

Effectively the industry could benefit from a rethink of its compensation practices if it wants to communicate to clients that addressing their needs is the top priority (and not just beating the competition) That means a rethink of where in the value chain of delivery is the greatest attention given to both understanding client needs and creating the right expectations as to what can be delivered. Achieve this (along with a targeted marketing effort as to what asset management can achieve) and we think this will open up more interest from women professionals.

Tshego Dichabe

nical competencies to hold their own in this highly competitive, ever-changing space This will be the key to changing the face of leadership and influence in the investment management profession

Tshego Dichabe, CEO of Aeon Investment Management

The study states that the number of women in analyst roles is increasing, and this remains a critical entry point to portfolio management In our experience, when recruiting for South African equity analysts, only 25% of the CVs we receive are from women We therefore agree with the study’ s finding that more needs to be done to increase awareness of the industry at high schools and universities

As such, we spend considerable time and effort on interventions focused on attracting women into the industry at these levels These include our annual Women’ s Day event, where high school girls have the opportunity to meet with women in the industry, attending university career events and our bursary programme, with 58% of the students sponsored in 2023 being women In addition, our CEO hosts an annual Youth Day event that is attended by finance and business majors from South Africa’ s leading universities

We also agree on the importance of training programmes and actively invest in these We run an extensive internal internship programme that has benefited 91 graduates over the years, and about half of those interns are now permanent employees Four of these permanent employees are members of the South African investment team More than half of our current cohort of 20 interns are women

Coronation Fund Managers

It was a male senior colleague who tried to dissuade me from registering for the CFA, saying it would be too difficult and I stood no chance The only basis for his assumption? He had tried to write several times and failed Several years later, to my dismay, another senior male colleague was encouraging a male colleague to register for the CFA exams His core argument: “Come on, look how many of these chicks here did it You’ll manage ”

To the young women starting out, I say to you: find a sponsor, be technically competent and never be deterred by a room full of men Your seat at the table is pivotal, you do not need to conform or be someone else to fit in, the discomfort will steer the right conversations, the different thinking you bring will add the much-needed alpha, and the support of other women in the space will give us a sustainable industry

Ann Leepile, CEO of Alexander Forbes Investments

Breaking Free

Do we want to train women to slot into the existing models of asset management?

Or do we want to train women to expand on the current model?

What our participants said:

According to Maslow’ s hierarchy of needs, self-actualisation is the highest level of psychological development, where personal potential is fully realised

I would like to argue that the financial services industry lacks an understanding of how black women struggle to recover from racial trauma According to Maslow, people’ s external lives reflect inner lives I would like to include this book by W Blanford, as doing so may influence the next set of academic literature to improve our industry: Exploring the Likelihood of Black Women Self-actualizing: The struggle to recover from racial trauma

Snowy Masakale, member of the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals

School leaders, teachers and university staff need to be much more clued up about the possible trajectories for women students in the financial services industry They need to start changing the narrative within the classroom and the curriculum

Knowing that women graduates show the necessary technical aptitude, what could be included in school and university curricula and even graduate programmes in the workplace is business leadership training for young women

Alicia Davids, CEO of the Asisa Academy

It’ s not about transforming women to fit the environment, but changing the environment to deliver on client outcomes which will naturally be more attractive to women (in general) Perhaps it is part of the reason incubation programmes and enterprise