by Martin de Bruyn, CFA, CFP®

I believe that there is a missing ingredient in society. That missing ingredient is women in leadership roles. As women’s month is ending, I thought it will be apt to write down some of my thoughts on women in leadership positions. We really need more women leaders in politics, business, schools, etc.

Why do I think so? Firstly, it is a gut feeling that I have. Women are nurturing, caring, intuitive, creative and sensitive, these are just some of the qualities that men need more of as leaders. Secondly, times have changed. Gone are the days where the husband goes to work and the wife stays at home/on the farm to cook, sow and look after the children. Progression has taken place but at a terribly slow pace. I reckon, way too slow.

It is now over 60 years since more than 20,000 South African women marched to the Union Buildings to protest against the government’s extension of pass laws to women. Women could not legally drive a car in Saudi Arabia until 2018. As of last year, fewer than 25% of parliamentarians around the world were women. And one in three women everywhere experience gender-based violence. While more than half of SA’s population is female, only 34% of small and medium-sized enterprises are led by women. Many are single parents, with high levels of domestic responsibility and low social status. Gender inequality at the executive level is much worse. Only 3.3% of the CEOs of companies listed on the JSE are women. Only 20.7% of South African directors and 29.4% of executive managers are women, with just 11.8% of board chairs being women.

Despite the low numbers of representation, women are punching way above their weight when it comes to good leadership. Four out of the five major Nordic countries are headed up by women. It is often pointed out that the Nordic countries led by women—Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland—have contained the pandemic much better than the one led by a man, Sweden. Then there is the prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, who has by all accounts also done a sterling job in terms of dealing with the pandemic. Please see the link below of a great video where she explains what their government has done during her first 100 days in office.

Turning to investment management now. Among some 500 large-cap U.S. mutual funds, those with at least one-third of manager positions held by women, have beaten those with no women by 1 percentage point in 2020, data compiled by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. show. They leaned more to technology stocks than their male counterparts, including Tesla, which may be due to their sixth sense (intuition). Women are still a small minority in the industry. Only 3% of the mutual funds tracked by Goldman have an all-female fund manager team, collectively managing just 2% of total assets. In contrast, 77% are managed by an all-male team, with these funds accounting for 57% of assets. Women who are single parents, widowed or divorced require special attention and help. We are acutely aware of this and are more than happy to go the extra mile when advising these clients. If you know of anyone in this position who needs help, you know who to call.

Sources:

1. Sunday Times newspaper, Comment and Analysis, 30 August 2020.
2. Moneyweb, Women fund managers beating men in picking stocks: Goldman. https://www.moneyweb.co.za/investing/unit-trusts/women-fund-managers-beating-men-in-picking-stocks-goldman/
3. Wired, What the Data Really Says About Women Leaders and the Pandemic. https://www.wired.com/story/what-the-data-really-says-about-women-leaders-and-the-pandemic/
4. 100 days challenge with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.