In the News

Equities.com

Consider these DEI initiatives under a second Trump administration, December 11, 2024

The webinar included a panel led by Angela Atherton, CFA, Co-Founder and Principal, Parallelle Finance, on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. 

Atherton engaged in a robust discussion with Julie Gorte, SVP Sustainable Investing, Impax Asset Management; Tammy Haygood, Financial Advisor, RBC Wealth Management; and Matthew Patsky, CEO, Trillium Asset Management. They discussed concerns about how Trump’s return to the White House will impact DEI initiatives, including possible backlash to such initiatives in the workplace and on college campuses. 

Atherton concluded with a reminder that there is lots of work left to do. 

“Everyone on this panel is committed to that work, and we know plenty of others who are. We encourage investors to look for opportunities to bring their dollars into the space and support these efforts,” she added. 

Equities.com

The Aha Moment: Parallelle finance is closing the gender gap one investment at a time, October 15, 2024

No one is better positioned to talk about this topic than Angela Atherton, CFA, and Marypat Thenell Smucker, CFA, the heads of Parallelle Finance. Their goal is to build the bridge between women (and other sustainable) investors and women-led companies, and they are building the tools to make that happen.

A registered investment advisor, Parallelle Finance isn’t strictly an investment company. It started its life as a research firm, reporting data on women in the global economy and equality-focused investments. They also provide ratings, scoring both public and private investments with a gender equality lens.

Financial Times

Letter: Gender lens investing is still a work in progress, August 4, 2024

Regarding Emma Boyde’s report “Gender equality fund performance disappoints” (ETF Hub, FT.com, July 8), gender lens investing — that is investing in companies that include women in the founding team, the leadership, the management team or on the board or in companies that offer products or services specifically benefiting women — has experienced steady growth over the past decade.

Boyde’s article critiquing the performance of gender lens vehicles in public markets highlights these challenges, echoed by the most recent first quarter 2024 analysis from Parallelle Finance, a GLI research consultancy.

The Purse

Episode #124: Investing with a gender lens with Marypat Smucker, July 26, 2024

Marypat Thenell Smucker, CFA, a Co-Founder and Principal of Parallelle, recently joined Jana Hlistova on The Purse Podcast. Marypat and Jana talked about:

Financial Planning

Gender-led investing funds grow in spite of attacks on ESG, June 6, 2024

In a study by Parallelle Finance, a firm that focuses on gender-lens investing research, analysis, and advocacy, gender-lens investing funds are defined by the percentage of women in leadership at a given company, pay equity transparency, and policies promoting the retention and promotion of women in leadership. 

“The research that we follow sort of supports that, that you want those differences of views, differences of opinions, different approaches to risk management and other activities as part of that leadership team,” said Angela Atherton, principal of operations and strategy for Parallelle Finance.

Nordsip

Can Gender Bonds Support the Gender Equality Agenda?, March 8, 2024

As a relatively niche market, not many estimates are available for the volume of gender equality-focused transactions conducted every year. According to an October 2021 estimate by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) the total market for assets related to “gender-labelled products” was worth US$17 billion. Meanwhile, Parallelle Finance estimated private and public gender lens fixed income (GLFI) funds had US$14.6 billion in assets under management at the end of the third quarter of 2023.

I by IMD

Gender lens investing cuts risk and boosts returns, March 4, 2024

According to Parallelle Finance, publicly traded gender lens equity funds (GLEFs) totaled $4.8bn in assets under management (AUM) across 41 products by the end of 2022, with growth of 20.6% for the calendar year. The UBS Global Gender Equality ETF, for example, has delivered a net annual return of 5.8% over the last five years. Other GLI strategies can invest in some of the 484 companies included in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index (GEI), which rates firms against five key pillars: leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and external brand. Mirova, the sustainable finance arm of French asset manager Natixis, launched its Women Leaders and Diversity Equity Fund in 2019 after signing the Women’s Empowerment Principles charter and agreeing to donate part of the fund’s management fees to the French chapter of UN Women. The fund has delivered a 30% performance since its launch.

Impact Investor

In brief: Launch of new gender bonds toolkit aimed at African capital markets, February 29, 2024

The toolkit, which was authored by Parallelle Finance, an investment research and consulting firm, aims to deepen the understanding of gender bonds and their potential to mobilise capital for women’s empowerment initiatives within the African capital markets context.

InvestmentNews

Return to office threatens to undermine advances for women, July 6, 2023

The return versus retention conflict has implications for corporate performance, if rising women leave due to draconian remote work policies, and take with them those companies’ potential gender-driven performance advantages, according to the analysis in a first-quarter report from Parallelle Finance. Parallelle links corporate policies that support workplace flexibility, among other factors, and the higher proportions of women in leadership that buoy better returns, sustainably.

“Study after study show that more flexibility helps with retention. And you’re not sacrificing productivity,” said Angela Atherton, principal of operations and strategy at Parallelle. “This seems like a great opportunity to figure out different ways of working together that work for everybody.”

The Purse

Episode #91: Gender lens investing: An update with Angela Atherton, May 16, 2023

Founded by Jana Hlistova, the Purse Podcast has a mission to help women take control of their financial future. The Purse is changing the conversation for women about money and investing. Angela Atherton, our Co-Founder, caught up with Jana in May to update podcast listeners on all things gender lens investing. The discussion highlighted strong growth in our coverage universe of gender lens equity funds. There are 21 new funds over the last three years, including seven in 2022 and four in 2023 so far. Angela also outlined how we see gender lens investing as having three overlapping pillars: investing in women, for women, and by women. Across the private markets spectrum, we are seeing strong growth in funds managed by women and investing in women-led businesses at all stages, often with women-centered products and services. Many of these are launching platforms for women investors. Angel, venture, funds of funds, equity, debt… our term for these funds is the gender lens investing trifecta.

With Intelligence

BNY Mellon to enter gender-equity space with ETF, February 1, 2023

The new fund enters a niche but growing space that globally saw seven fund launches last year following eight in 2021 for a total of 41 US and global strategies committed to gender-lens investing, according to Parallelle Finance, a gender lens investing research, analysis and advocacy firm.

“It’s important to see new gender lens fund offerings from top global asset management firms and BNY Mellon certainly fits into that,” said Marypat Thenell Smucker, a principal at Parallelle.

InvestmentNews

Transparent gender data paves way for reaping gender-driven results, advocates say, January 26, 2023

In March, Parallelle Finance launched a gender lens scorecard that equips investors with metrics for the performance of women-centered investing. The 36 funds in the scorecard reflect the emerging standard for corporate self-disclosure, said Parallelle Finance principal Marypat Smucker. Pressure is mounting for data from privately held companies and startups, to detect those that are more likely to gain the advantages of women in leadership, she said. And as more companies report EEO-1 data voluntarily, it resets the expectation for those that don’t — yet.

Spear’s

How impact investing is set to rise among ethically-driven ultra-rich, January 25, 2023

Angela Atherton, head of operations and strategy at Parallele Finance, a ‘gender lens investing’ research firm that promotes gender equality, says that they anticipate investor interest will only grow in 2023.

‘ESG investing weathered several headwinds in 2022, including global equity market losses and an unsupportive political environment in some corners,’ she says. ‘At the same time, regulatory scrutiny is resulting in increased clarity around investment guidelines, and global ESG corporate reporting conventions are moving toward standardisation.’

‘Research shows that investor interest in ESG products continues to strengthen going into 2023, and one area of heightened investor focus is diversity.’

Fundfire

Most Institutional Investors Rate Diversity as Important to Investment Programs, November 1, 2022

Investors ought to consider not just board representation, but broader DEI policies in firms’ investment considerations, said Marypat Smucker, principal at Parallelle Finance, a research firm focused on gender lens investing.

“In order to get the benefits of diversity in decision-making and management, you have to have the hiring, supporting, promoting, and retention of racially diverse women. That should be your investment criteria,” Smucker said. “All the data around that are what investors can look for the have gender and broader based DEI investment criteria.” 

ESG Clarity

More board seats go to women but C-suite is far behind, October 18, 2022

Women are gradually seeing more representation on corporate boards, which is helping boost the range of securities that gender-parity funds can choose from, according to a recent report from Parallelle Finance.

Currently, nearly 32% of board seats within the S&P 500 are occupied by women, up from 28% in 2020 and just 12% in 2000, the report noted. Similarly, the figures for companies in the Russell 1000 are at over 28% today, versus less than 24% in 2019.

Globally, the figures are also encouraging, at 33.5% of MSCI World board seats last year, up from just over 20% in 2017, according to Parallelle.

Financial Planning

7 initiatives advancing diversity in financial planning, October 17, 2022

While women may be underrepresented in portfolio management (as of Dec. 31, 2020, only 11% of fund managers were female), their success has not gone unnoticed. Research shows that gender-diverse leadership outperforms, said Marypat Smucker, principal at Parallelle Finance, a group that researches “gender lens” investing.

“It leads to less fraud, better risk management, better financial performance and better operations performance,” she said, making a clear business case for greater inclusion and diversity in portfolio management.

Ignites

Gender- and Diversity-Linked Funds Ballooned in 2021, June 10, 2022

Parallelle expects to see continued growth in the asset class, Smucker said. “More recently BlackRock and UN Women announced an agreement to promote gender lens investing, including the issuance of funds in the coming quarters,” she added.

ESG Clarity

‘It’s easy to pinkwash’: Suzanne Biegel says look beyond boards, June 9, 2022

Publicly traded gender lens equity funds totalled $4.1bn in AUM as of 31 March 2022, a Q1 update this week from Parallelle Finance has found, up from $4bn at the end of December 2021. Gender lens fixed income was at $7.6bn, down from $8.5bn for the same period.

The Purse

Gender lens investing and the gender lens scorecard with Marypat Smucker, May 10, 2022

“We aim to help investment advisors place their clients in gender lens funds. We believe it is time for a deeper evaluation of this suite of funds.”  

“So, if an investor goes to her advisor, for example, and asks about gender lens vehicles we want to be the resource for finding an investment vehicle that fits her portfolio. And we especially want investors of all sizes, small and large, to be able to invest with a gender lens.” 

Pensions & Investments

Asset owners eye gender lens funds, April 29, 2022

“In March, Parallelle Finance launched a gender lens scorecard, which evaluates funds on adherence to the stated objectives of their strategies. The scorecard is designed to give investors the ability to easily compare gender lens strategies and their impact.”

Fidelity Viewpoints

Putting a gender lens on the S in ESG, April 27, 2022

Investors have a variety of options from around the world when it comes to gender and diversity. There were 26 gender lens equity funds as of the third quarter of 2021—10 are global equity funds and 16 of the funds are regional, according to Parallelle Finance, an advocate for and consultant on gender lens investing. There is also a smaller group of funds tracked by Parallelle Finance with a slightly broader mandate, known as diversity, equity, and inclusion funds.

Impactivate

Gender-Focused ESG Mutual Funds Gain Steam, but Equity Continues to Lag, April 26, 2022

Gender lens investing is yet to hit its peak, according to the November 2021 report Gender Lens Investing Q3 2021 Review from gender lens finance advocate Parallelle Finance (PF). At the same time, the report also shows that such investments lag behind other issues in their share of ESG mutual funds.

Financial Planning

Women portfolio managers: Numbers are small, but returns are big, study shows, April 1, 2022

Marypat Smucker, a principal at Parallelle Finance in Seattle, a research advocacy group that handles data on what it calls “gender lens” investing, said there is a wide body of research showing that diverse leadership — and specifically gender diverse leadership — outperforms.

Wealth Professional

How have Canada’s gender-equity funds performed?, March 24, 2022

In its Gender Lens Investing 2022 report, Parallelle found that like the rest of the market, its sample group of 27 GLEFs – including 10 global and 17 regional equity funds, showed mixed performance in 2021. As of December 31, publicly traded GLEFs had US$4 billion in total AUM, driven in part by 12% AUM growth seen during the fourth quarter.

Financial Planning

Research firm launches Gender Lens Scorecard, March 13, 2022

“Seattle-based Parallelle Finance, a research and advocacy firm, created a tool with four criteria measuring gender-lens investment funds based on workforce representation, performance and ESG criteria. The firm calls the research tool the Gender Lens Scorecard.”

ESG Clarity

Are your clients looking to invest with a gender lens?, March 8, 2022

According to this year’s Parallelle Finance report, assets invested in public gender lens equity funds increased from $2.67bn to $4bn at the end of last year, with AUM growing 12% in the last quarter.

Morningstar

In the Pursuit of Equality, Gender Lens Investing Can Help Tip the Scale, March 2, 2022

“Parallelle Finance identified 26 gender lens investing equity funds with $3.56 billion in assets as of Sept. 30, 2021. Total net assets climbed to roughly $4 billion as of Jan. 31, 2022. Meanwhile, fixed-income funds and products had assets of $8.41 billion as of Sept. 30, 2021, according to Parallelle’s Gender Lens Investing Q3 2021 Review.”

Market Values

Investing Through A Gender Lens, February 1, 2022

Gender lens investing focuses on generating market-level returns by investing in firms that promote equal opportunities for women in the workforce, as business owners, and as consumers. Retail investors can make their voice heard by investing in one or several of 26 gender lens global and regional equity funds. As of Sept. 30, 2021, these funds represented $3.6 billion in assets – a 35% growth so far in 2021, according to Gender Lens Investing Q3 2021 Review by Parallelle Finance.

The Purse

Gender lens equity funds and women in leadership with Angela Atherton, January 9, 2022

“At Parallelle Finance, we see gender lens investing as about investing in women, meaning women-owned businesses, women-led businesses, and gender-conscious companies, and also about helping women to invest and build their wealth. We believe the gender lens investing proposition can be interesting to women and all investors…”

ETF Trends

Gender Equity an Increasing Focus Within ESG, December 1, 2021

$3.6 billion is allocated to mutual funds, ETFs, and other equity products that focus on gender equity, and while it’s a small sliver of the pie, it’s growing, according to Parallelle Finance.

CNBC

‘Gender-lens’ investors direct their money to women-led companies, December 1, 2021

What’s more, greater gender diversity at a company is related to higher share price performance, improved risk management and lower incidences of fraud, said Angela Atherton, principal of operations and strategy at Parallelle Finance.

ETF Trends

Investing in Gender Equity is Growing

A gender-focused advisory firm, Parallelle Finance, reported that within equities, assets contained in funds focused on gender equity and diversity were up 8% in the second quarter over the first, and assets in bonds were up 20% in the same period.

The Wall Street Journal

‘Gender Lens’ Funds Let Investors Put Money on Women Leaders, November 18, 2021

Parallelle Finance, a gender-lens advisory firm, says assets in the group of gender-lens stock funds it tracks rose 8% in the second quarter from the first quarter, helped by a combination of performance and net inflows. Assets in gender-lends bond funds grew 20% in the second quarter from the first, helped by new issuance, the firm says.

Credit Suisse Research Institute

CS 3000 in 2021: Broadening the diversity discussion, September 2021

By end-Q1 2021, assets under management in gender lens products amounted to around USD 10 billion – publicly traded gender lens equity funds (GLEFs) had USD 3.3 billion in assets under management (up 21% since end-2020) and gender lens fixed income assets under management stood at USD 6.5 billion (up 39% from end-2020).

— Source: Parallelle Finance

Capital Monitor

Why gender lens investing is struggling to make an impact, August 31, 2021

The most comprehensive database on gender lens funds is put together by Parallelle Finance. As of May 2021 it tracked 29 gender lens equity funds (GLEFs) centred on a WIL philosophy. Many of these funds employ internal WIL indices, meaning they are supposed to track a selection of companies with higher levels of WIL positions than industry norms.

Fund Intelligence

Invesco preps diversity ETF among range of launches, June 22, 2021

The Invesco Racial and Gender Diversity ETF will break ground on combining a stated metric of both gender and racial diversity in corporate leadership, according to Marypat Smucker, research and content principal for research firm Parallelle Finance.

Forbes

Shareholder Activists Advocating For Gender Equality Focus On Tackling Sexual Harassment, June 20, 2021

According to Angela Atherton at Parallelle Finance, many of the gender lens funds they track already engage with corporate leadership on gender equality. “In fact, we find that Microsoft is a top holding in 14 of 29 gender lens equity funds as of the end of Q1 2021,” says Atherton, who leads Operations and Strategy at Parallelle Finance. This is despite Microsoft being given a ‘C’ rating out of a scale from ‘A’ to ‘F’ by Arjuna Capital’s 2021
Racial and Gender Pay Scorecard, in their efforts in disclosing and acting on racial and gender pay gaps, trailing behind three other technology companies, Adobe, Apple and Intel, which were given a ‘B’ rating.

Financial Planning

Investors want data on ESG but struggle to find it, survey shows, May 21, 2021

Rising AUM and missing information amounts to a “frustrating” combination, according to Marypat Thenell Smucker of gender-lens investing research firm Parallelle Finance. In its first-quarter review of the sector, the firm proposed a detailed new criteria for gender-lens funds.

Fund Intelligence

BNY Mellon scraps Japan gender equity fund, May 19, 2021

Marypat Smucker, one of Parallelle’s two founders, told Fund Intelligence that one challenge for a Japan gender-lens fund is that while the country has a developed equity market, it generally scores poorly when ranked internationally on gender equality factors, particularly regarding women’s participation in the workforce. The country ranked 120
out of 156 in a recent World Economic Forum study, and a report from Equileap on women in leadership found that none of the top 100 countries globally were based in Japan.

ESG Clarity

What’s really going on with gender lens funds?, May 14, 2021

In fact, in 2020, the AXA fund recorded the highest absolute performance – 18.4% – for the year of the 12 global and 16 regional gender lens equity funds analysed in a recent report, Gender Lens Investing 2021, by Parallelle Finance.

Similarly, the CFA Institute recently noted gender lens equity funds “performed in line with the broader market”.

And while gender lens fund counters may have lost two funds in LGIM and AXA, they’ve also gained three launched in 2020, which include the Desjardins SocieTerra Diversity fund and the Adasina Social Justice All Cap Global ETF. Public gender lens equity funds currently comprise $2.67bn in assets under management, according to the Parallelle Finance study.

Financial Planning (podcast)

4 questions on the scope of gender lens investing, April 7, 2021

In a new episode of the Financial Planning podcast, an expert in gender lens investing explains the growing opportunities in the rapidly expanding asset class.

Angela Atherton, the principal for operations and strategy of independent research firm Parallelle Finance, spoke with FP Senior Editor Tobias Salinger after the company released its “Gender Lens Investing 2021” report. Assets under management among publicly traded gender lens equity funds jumped 40% to $2.67 billion in 2020, according to Parallelle.

Financial Planning

Campaign against mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment gets pledges from 391 firms, March 29, 2021

The site also fills in “a big piece” of missing data that’s still undisclosed by many public firms, says Marypat Smucker, the principal for research and content of gender-lens investment research firm Parallelle Finance. Pay gap data and supplier diversity figures would help publicly traded gender lens equity funds add two more screens to their models. The funds had more than $2.67 billion in assets under management at the end of 2020, according to Parallelle.

Banking Dive

Crypto, ESG and office returns: Banks show when they would — and would not — rather be first, March 18, 2021

“Jane Fraser is a bright spot, but there’s still a long way to go for banks to have gender diversity at the top and middle levels,” Marypat Smucker, who runs the Seattle-based research firm Parallelle Finance, told the wire service.

Investment Week

Not all heroes wear capes: Championing the Wonder Women at the forefront of the ESG revolution, March 17, 2021

Bloomberg

Citigroup Overtakes French Banks With Most Women in Boardroom, March 15, 2021

Financial services has been among the slowest industries to make notable progress when it comes to women in corporate leadership, according to Marypat Smucker, who runs research firm Parallelle Finance.

The Mutual Fund Wire

The U.S. Accounts for 41 Percent of Gender Lens Equity Fund AUM, March 10, 2021

Last month, Parallelle Finance released its Gender Lens Investing 2021 report, subtitled “supporting a women-focused recovery.” The 28-page report offers an overview of where GLI stood at the end of 2020 worldwide.

ESG Investor

Investors Need to Look for Gender Diversity Outside C-Suite, March 10, 2021

The Parallelle Finance report shows Microsoft is held by six of the top 10 gender-lens equity funds, with three holding Amazon, two holding Adobe and two holding Alibaba. Facebook, Netflix and Google are also held by these top 10 funds.

Kalkine Media Canada

Women’s Day 2021: 3 ETFs That Back Female Empowerment, March 8, 2021

International Women’s Day, celebrated all over the world on March 8, is set aside to remind us about the diverse achievements of womenkind. A recent study by research and advocacy firm Parallelle Finance even found that publicly-traded gender lens equity funds (GLEFs) saw an assets under management (AUM) growth of around 40 per cent in 2020. With that in mind, today let’s focus on three exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in Canada that focus on gender diversity – BMO Women in Leadership Fund, RBC Vision Women’s Leadership MSCI Canada Index ETF, and Mackenzie Global Leadership Impact ETF.

Wealth Professional

Female-focused funds grew in 2020, but more needs to be done, March 3, 2021

“AUM in the gender lens equity and fixed income sectors is positioned for 2021 growth,” Parallelle said in the report, noting planned launches that include a US$2.9 billion institutional equity portfolio and an emerging-markets bond fund focused on gender equality in the least developed countries. “Individual investors have a growing number of funds in which to invest in a long-term women-focused recovery from the pandemic and downturn.”

Ignites

Funds Focused on Gender Gap Tend to Favor Tech Stocks: Report, February 26, 2021

Funds with a gender-lens approach also tend to have higher than average representation of female portfolio managers, Parallelle says. At least 48% of fund managers of gender-lens funds were women according to the report. Meanwhile, women make up only 14% of fund managers globally, the report states, citing Morningstar. Within the U.S., only 11% of fund managers are women, the report notes.

Fund Intelligence

State Street, Fidelity Investments among women-focused fund AuM winners, February 24, 2021

“With all the attention that has been paid to impact investing in women-owned enterprises in emerging markets, we believe that will lead to some opportunities for the public sector funds to invest,” [Marypat Thenell Smucker] said. Also in developing markets and in the U.S., there’s a growing focus on women founders and increasing venture investment into women-founded companies.”

Investment Week

Gender lens equity funds grow assets to $2.67 bn in 2020 as tech exposure helps, February 23, 2021

“Directing capital toward companies and sectors characterised by women in low-paying roles is one way that gender lens funds can help drive a women-focused recovery,” Parallelle Finance said.

London News Time

Gender Lens Equity Fund assets will reach $ 2.67 billion in 2020 as technology exposures help performance, February 23, 2021

“Directing capital to companies and sectors that characterize women in low-wage roles is one way the Gender Lens Fund can help drive a women-centric recovery,” said Parallelle Finance.

The company found that Microsoft has the top holdings in 11 gender lens equity funds, followed by 6 visas and 5 Estee Lauder.

Impactivate

5 Corporate Gender Diversity Metrics for Gender Lens Investors, October 13, 2020

After years of effort, levels of gender diversity in executive management remain low. In 2019, women held just 5% of CEO positions in the S&P 500 and 21.2% of seats on boards. While women comprised 44.7% of all employees, they encompassed 26.5% of executive-level slots, highlighting the disproportionate representation of women at the top.

Wealth Professional

Mixed showing for gender lens equity funds during COVID-19 crucible, July 23, 2020

The first three months of the year also saw a decline in reported AUM for the primary gender-lens funds available to individual investors, which are catalogued on the website Parallelle Finance. In aggregate, the AUM for those 18 funds shrank from US$1.47 billion to US$1.35 billion.

Wealth Professional

Is there a distortion in gender-lens investing?, January 7, 2020

But according to Marypat Smucker of Parallelle Finance, the strategies that focus on WIL may be seriously missing the mark. In a blog post published by the CFA Institute, she noted that gender-lens equity funds available to individual investors in the public space include mutual funds, ETFs, SICAVs, one exchange-traded note, and one unit trust.