30% increase in women fund managers in Mutual Fund industry

The total number of women fund managers in the Mutual Fund industry has increased by 30 per cent in the last one year. According to the annual report of Morningstar Investment Adviser India, the total count of women fund managers has increased from 32 last year to 42 now.

Interestingly, the total number of fund managers also saw a healthy increase this year to 428 from 399 last year.

"When it comes to gender diversity, the latest findings of our report show that of the 428 fund managers, 42 are women who are managing funds either as primary or secondary managers," said the Morningstar report released ahead of International Women's Day on May 8.

With a meagre 9.81 per cent representation, women still remain drastically under-represented among the ranks of mutual fund managers, Morningstar said.

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According to the report, there were only 18 women fund managers in 2017, and the number has increased gradually since then. The only exception was in 2020, when there was a minor decrease.

Meeta Gutgutia, FNP co-founder and founder of Women Listed, said that there is a misconception that women cannot handle money. "We must acknowledge the value and contribution of women to India's economy. It is necessary to build women’s role as economic agents," she said.

The 42 women fund managers were spread across 24 fund houses, with five fund houses having three or more women fund managers; six fund houses had two women fund managers while 13 fund houses had at least one-woman fund manager, it added.

With PTI inputs