Female fund managers manage about 13% of MF wealth

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The hand that rocks the cradle also creates wealth, and, if a recent data-crunching exercise is to be believed they tend to manage wealth more efficiently than their male counterparts, the Business Standard has reported quoting Morningstar Investment Research. Though women fund managers manage only 12.63% of the AUM (assets under management) of the Indian mutual fund industry, they have displayed better performance, the report states unequivocally.

“Our analysis reveals that among the total open-ended assets managed or co-managed by female fund managers, 70% outperformed the peer group average over a one-year period, 71% outperformed over a three-year span, and an impressive 93.5% outperformed over five years,” said the report.

Till January this year, there were only 42 women fund managers compared to 431 male managers spread across 21 fund houses. Though women form a small share of fund managers in India, their number has risen sharply from a mere 18 in 2017 to 42 in 2024 – a rise of 2.33 times.

According to the report, five fund houses had three or more female fund managers. There are five fund houses that employ two women fund managers and there are 11 houses that have at least one female fund manager.

Morningstar calculated that women fund managers are responsible for AUM of Rs 6.66 lakh crore in January 2024 which rose from Rs 4.44 lakh crore in January 2023.

“Although the assets managed or co-managed by women are increasing, their percentage relative to the overall industry assets hasn’t reached a noteworthy level yet. However, on a positive note, the assets in percentage terms did see an increase this year after witnessing regression in the past two years,” stated Morningstar.

Most assets managed or co-managed by women managers are in the equity and growth segment, the report found out.

Ten women managers were found to manage funds consistently at least for five years. Twnety-five female managers have been managing funds for less than three years.