Gender diversity in mutual funds: Why women fund managers lag behind

Good returns over the last year have made investors happy, but mutual funds are still lagging behind in gender diversity.

Of the 473 fund managers in the industry, only 42 were women managing funds as primary or secondary managers, as per the Morningstar report.

While there has been a steady increase in the number of fund managers compared to the 428 registered last year, the number of women fund managers has been static, said the report.

The total assets managed by female fund managers was about ₹6.66 lakh crore, or 12.63 per cent of the total mutual fund assets of ₹52.74 lakh crore.

The assets managed by women are increasing due to market movements, their percentage relative to the overall industry assets has not reached a meaningful increase.

From a modest 18 in 2017, the women fund managers surged to 42 in 2023 and remained stagnant as of January 2024.

The 42 female fund managers were spread across 21 fund houses. Five fund houses had three or more female fund managers, five had two female fund managers and 11 had at least one female fund manager.

Regarding tenure, the report said ten fund managers are managing funds consistently for five years or more. Seven fund managers manage funds between three and five years, and 25 fund managers manage funds for less than three years.

Among lead women fund managers, Anju Chhajer of Nippon India Mutual Fund manages fixed-income worth Rs 55,400 crore. Of the 20 years in the industry, Chhajer has spent 15 years in Nippon MF.

Sohini Andani joined SBI MF in 2007 as Head-Equity Research and has been recognised for her stock picks and research capabilities. She manages two strategies with assets of ₹59,200 crore.

Sunaina da Cunha, co-head of fixed income at Aditya Birla Sun Life MF, manages about ₹54,300 crore across four strategies, while Roshi Jain, HDFC MF, manages funds worth ₹70,400 crore.

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