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HESTA pushes for gender balance in investments
The fund has strengthened efforts to boost gender diversity, targeting 40:40:20 balance across its investment teams by 2030.
HESTA has reaffirmed its commitment to achieving 40:40 gender balance across its $93 billion investment value chain and plans to allocate future capital to investment partners with gender-diverse teams.
The renewed focus coincides with the release of HESTA’s Gender Diversity in Investment Management 2024 progress survey. HESTA has tracked gender diversity in its investment value chain since 2018 through regular surveys of its domestic and international managers.
The biannual survey revealed that women now comprise 28 per cent of the investment management workforce among the fund’s external managers, rising from 24 per cent in 2022 and 17 per cent when first surveyed in 2018.
As of 30 June 2024, women have made up 42 per cent of the investment management team, including 67 per cent of the investment committee.
Women have held 28 per cent of roles at portfolio manager level or above, up from 18 per cent in the previous survey, and 51 per cent of roles below that level, a decline from 57 per cent largely due to internal promotions.
The research also indicated that, for the first time, all of HESTA’s investment partners are anticipated to have mixed-gender management teams by 2025.
HESTA chief executive officer Debby Blakey described the survey as a vital part of the fund’s ongoing efforts to identify areas for improvement.
“The research highlights encouraging signs of improvement. However there remains significant work ahead to address the underrepresentation of women in the industry and accelerate progress towards our aspiration of gender-balanced representation across the investment value chain by 2030,” Blakey said.
“Research clearly shows organisations benefit from diversity in a number of ways from improved decision making, diversity of thought, greater innovation, and enhanced financial performance.
“We will continue to promote the value of greater diversity among our managers in the interest of our members’ long-term investment performance. Achieving gender balance by 2030 will require the support and commitment of our investment partners and the broader industry.”
The survey outlined several initiatives driving industry progress, including the introduction of inclusive parental leave policies by the IFM, which granted 26 weeks of paid leave to all eligible parents from 2021, with a 2022 expansion to include surrogacy and foster care.
Additionally, Generation Investment Management has run a returnship program since 2019 to support individuals re-entering the workforce, particularly caregivers, by focusing on transferable skills and leadership support.
The survey further revealed that the proportion of women in roles below portfolio manager level has dipped to 30 per cent from 32 per cent in 2022, though it remains above the 2020 figure of 26.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, 45 per cent of investment managers have set gender diversity targets for their teams, compared with 34 per cent in 2022. All investment partners have implemented policies to prevent and respond to workplace sexual harassment.
Chief investment officer Sonya Sawtell-Rickson emphasised the fund’s determination to drive continued industry-wide progress, stating that all of the funds’ investment partners “now are anticipated to have mixed-gender investment teams this calendar year”.
“We remain committed to advancing gender diversity internally at HESTA and working with our investment partners to drive change.
“As part of our ambition to achieve this 40:40 target across our investment value chain, we will look for opportunities to allocate future capital to investment partners who capture the benefits of gender diversity,” Sawtell-Rickson said.
To accelerate progress, HESTA has encouraged investment partners to adopt actions such as setting time-bound gender diversity targets, conducting regular gender pay-gap analyses, introducing inclusive workplace policies, and demonstrating transparency through public disclosure.
Reportedly, these measures have already been implemented at HESTA.
AUTHOR
Adrian Suljanovic
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