Parallelle Finance

Gender Lens Investing

Quarterly Commentary

Q4 2020 Overview – A Call to Action: Aligning Gender Lens Investing and ESG

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Gender lens investing (GLI) is a thematic environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy that is inspired by women in leadership (WIL) and related gender equality criteria.

The primary publicly traded GLI equity funds available to individual investors include 12 global and 16 regional funds that together closed out 2020 with US$2.67 billion in assets under management (AUM). As a whole, they weathered the year’s economic storms well, with only one fund closing and three new ones launching.

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Q3 2020 Overview – Gender Lens Funds: Ups and Downs for Women in the Workforce

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The third quarter was an eventful one for gender lens investing as well as women in leadership (WIL) in the financial sector and elsewhere.

Gender lens equity funds turned in modest positive returns, a trajectory in line with the broader market. This suite of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which developed in response to evidence that companies with higher WIL metric generate superior financial and stock price performance, includes 23 primary gender lens equity funds that are available to individual investors. Of these, nine are global and 14 are regional.

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Q2 2020 Overview – Can Gender Lens Funds Help Move the Dial on Pay Equality?

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As we move through the second half of 2020, growth in corporate women-in-leadership (WIL) remains slow and uneven. The number of women CEOs in the Fortune 500 companies reached a new high of 37 this year, but that is still only 7.4% of the total. After the FTSE 350 companies briefly registered no all-male boards, two companies slipped back into all-male board status earlier this year.

Nonetheless, gender lens equity and fixed income investing continues to grow, founded on consistent evidence of superior financial performance by companies with stronger WIL levels. In an expanded coverage list, the 23 primary gender lens equity funds available to individual investors include nine global equity funds and 14 regional equity offerings. See second-quarter performance here.

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Q1 2020 Overview – Gender Lens Equity Funds: The First Major Test

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Amid the unfolding global pandemic and economic downturn, equities plunged during the first quarter. The S&P 500 Index returned -19.6% and the MSCI World Index posted three-month returns of -21.05%, as developed and emerging markets indexes were all down steeply.

Among gender lens indexes, the MSCI World Women’s Leadership Index declined 25.63%, and the MSCI USA Women’s Leadership Index fell 24.96%. The Solactive Equileap Global Gender Equality 100 Leadership Index returned -23.90%. The Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, which announced a 2020 expansion from 230 to 325 companies in 42 countries, posted a decline of over 30%.

How did gender lens funds fare in the first quarter?

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2019 Overview – Gender Lens Funds: What Was the Impact in 2019?

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How did the primary publicly traded gender lens equity funds perform last year?

The recent track records of the funds accessible to individual investors are now available. These portfolios include mutual funds, ETFs, SICAVs, one ETN, and one unit trust. Divided into six global equity funds and 12 regional funds, they are listed by AUM, which totaled $1.47 billion for the group as of 31 December 2019. (Summary data for these fund is also available.)

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