Gender lens investing (GLI) is the direction of investment resources toward the achievement of gender equality. Broadly defined, GLI describes investment funds and portfolios in private and public capital markets segments. A breadth of studies spanning two decades has repeatedly shown connections between higher levels of women in leadership (WIL) and superior financial and operational performance. This includes superior share price returns, return on equity (ROE) and profitability, as well as lower incidences of fraud, better environmental decision-making, and improved risk management. These studies serve to demonstrate the rewards of gender diversity to companies and their investors – and clarify the costs to companies and economies of the persistent gaps in corporate gender diversity: lost profits, foregone EBITDA margins and ROE, lower revenue growth, dampened credit ratings, and lower earnings for women and their households.
Comprehensive workplace gender equality is a key factor in boosting WIL levels and realizing the many associated benefits. Research shows that voluntary or mandated public disclosure of unadjusted (median) gender pay gaps moves the needle on narrowing them. Paid caregiving leave has been shown to promote retention of female employees. In addition, anti-sexual harassment policies make a significant difference in retaining and promoting women. For sustained achievement of women in leadership, corporations must hire, promote, and retain more women.
Select studies on the performance benefits of gender-diverse corporate and financial leadership (2019-2025)
| Study and dataset | Findings |
| 2023-2025 | |
| Developing Markets | |
| Sustainability Journal October 2024 3,500+ dataset of GHG emitters in Asia Data from 2013-22 | Significant correlation between woman in CEO role and higher level of green innovation. The study found significant correlation between women CEO and green innovation in a 3,500+ dataset of the most pronounced greenhouse gas emitting companies in Asia. The effect of women CEOs on green-focused innovation is most prominent in larger corporations. The researchers concluded that Asian corporate stakeholders should promote an increase in the representation of women in CEO roles, particularly in larger companies, and that regulatory policies should support this. |
| Bloomberg Intelligence Bloomberg data | Higher board representation for women is correlated with higher share price returns. Globally, women held 26% of board seats as of 2023, with Bloomberg data showing that women on S&P boards is around 35%. According to BI research on share price returns from 2010 to 2023, in developed markets the top 20% of companies for female board membership outperformed the bottom 20% by 2-5%. In emerging markets, the top 20% were 2-6% less volatile than the bottom 20%. [1] |
| Developed and Global Markets | |
| OneStream 1,146 companies across Europe, U.K., U.S. 2025 | Companies with woman CFO turn in higher shareholder return during tenure. While it takes over three years longer for women to reach the position of CFO, companies with a woman in the role delivered 4.5% annualized shareholder return during their tenure – a modest edge of 0.2% per year over industry benchmarks. In addition, underperforming firms saw a 10% average increase in total shareholder return above industry benchmarks, as compared to results under previous CFO. [2] |
| Blackrock MSCI World Index; Russell 1000 Index | Share price outperformance is associated with higher workforce representation for women, higher promotions for women, and longer maternity leave benefits. It is diversity that counts. Study results included: (a) The more gender balanced a company’s workforce, the higher its return on assets. (b) In reiterating several analyses from the range of studies on outperformance, shares of companies with higher gender diversity across ranks outperform their less diverse peers. (c) A hypothetical portfolio maximizing women’s representation among promoted employees outperformed the MSCI World Index over the past four years. (d) A hypothetical portfolio overweighting companies with longer maternity leaves taken and underweighting those with shorter maternity leaves outperformed the Russell 1000 Index for the past four years. [3] |
| Harvard Business Review 200 public companies in the U.S. and Europe | Higher board representation for women leads to better decision-making. Qualitative study concluded that women brought deeper discussions to boards. Both men and women reported that women are more prepared for meetings, ask more questions, and are more willing to acknowledge what they don’t know in order to get all issues into discussions. Gender diversity has resulted in better decision-making because more considerations are examined. Also, women are less concerned with popularity and how they are perceived. [4] |
| Impax Asset Management 2014-2023 corporate gender equality data | Share price outperformance is correlated with higher levels of women in management. Women in management has been a key outperformance indicator: top gender-diverse leadership quartile outperformed bottom. Order of leadership factors driving outperformance: women in management, women on board, woman CFO, woman CEO. [5] |
| 2019-2022 | |
| Morningstar U.S., U.K., and Canada companies | Higher board representation for women is correlated with higher share price returns Over a 3-year period, Morningstar found that shares of companies in the U.K., U.S. and Canada with more female executives and directors outperformed. Those with more than 50% female executives and directors averaged a 3-year annualized share price return of 13.46%, above the average return of 4.78%. [6] |
| Credit Suisse CS Gender 3000 in 2021: Broadening the diversity discussion (CS 3000). [7] | Series of studies of 3,000 global companies showing that higher levels of women in leadership are associated with superior financial performance. As with earlier versions of this study going back to 2012, the data continued to point to an observed premium for higher levels of gender diversity in leadership on several measures, including better EBITDA margins through time and stronger share price performance. |
| The Pipeline Women Count 2022 | The flip side: A lack of women in leadership is costly. The study estimates that the lack of gender diversity in executive committees is costing FTSE 350 companies £58 billion in profits, or 2.5% of the U.K. GDP. [8] |
| MSCI MSCI ACWI | Higher board representation for women is correlated with carbon emissions reduction. Companies with at least three female board members reduced their carbon emissions. While 33.3% of such companies earned the highest MSCI ESG scores, only 16.2% of companies with fewer than three women on their boards earned top scores. [9] |
| Impax Asset Management (Julie Gorte) Literature Review | Gender-diverse ACWI companies show better records on carbon emissions reduction. Board gender diversity is associated with higher adoption of renewable energy. Literature review of corporate benefits of gender diversity. Notably, a 2021 MSCI report found that gender-diverse ACWI Index companies had better records on reducing carbon emissions. A U.S. study found that gender-diverse boards were more likely to pursue renewable energy, which boosted financial performance. [10] |
| Corporate Women Directors International 3,000 cos., 55 countries | CEO has positive impact on overall WIL Companies with a female CEO had significantly more women in executive positions and on the board. The increase in women's leadership happened after the appointment of the female CEO. [11] |
| S&P Global Intelligence 6,000 companies in the Russell 3000 Index over 17 years | Women CFOs are correlated with higher profits and share price. Study found that companies with a woman CFO saw an average 6% increase in profits and 8% higher share price performance in the first 24 months after the appointment. On average, companies with a woman CFO had twice the number of women board members as those with a male CFO. [12] |
| Wall Street Journal 640 companies | Higher representation for women in leadership is associated with superior effectiveness. Top quartile companies by five measures of effectiveness had highest percentage of women in leadership. These percentages dropped for every subsequent quartile. [13] |
| University of Toronto 6,000 U.S.-listed companies 2000-2010 | Higher representation for women on boards is correlated with lower incidences of fraud. Companies with gender-diverse boards outperformed those with zero or only one woman. These companies also had fewer reporting restatements and fewer incidents of fraud. [14] |
| McKinsey U.S. and U.K. companies 1,000 companies in 15 countries Various periods to 2019 | Underperformance is more likely for companies in low quartiles on diversity. Companies in the top quartile of gender diversity in management were 25% more likely to demonstrate above-average profitability than those in the last quartile – an increase over previous results from 2017 and 2014. Growing likelihood of underperformance for companies in the lowest gender and ethnic diversity quartiles. [15] |
| Investments and Wealth Institute Literature Review | Mandates for women’s board representation lead to outperformance. Review of academic literature on the corporate benefits of higher levels of gender diversity. Italian companies performed better on a range of metrics following Italy’s mandate for at least three women on boards. Additional findings included that FTSE 100 companies with more women on their boards had higher firm value, and that Chinese firms with female chairs performed better between 2000-14. [16] |
| Harvard Business Review Dataset of Danish companies | Gender pay gaps narrow when disclosure is required; women’s representation also improves. Study of Danish companies before and after legislation requiring disclosure of gender wage gaps. Gender pay gap shrank notably over a five-year period. The hiring and promotion of women increased, and overall wage bills were reduced due to the slowing of male wage growth. [17] |
| SHRM | Caregiving benefits serve to retain women. In the U.S., states with paid leave for family caregiving turned in a 20% reduction in women employees leaving their jobs in the first year after giving birth, with a nearly 50% reduction over the first five years of parenthood. Paid caregiving leave serves to nearly close the workforce participation gap between women with and without minor children. [18] |
[1] Green, J. (2024, Dec 9) Firms Outperform When There Are More Women on Boards, BI Says. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-09/firms-outperform-when-there-s-more-women-on-boards-bi-says?tpcc=NL_Marketing
[2] (2025, Aug 27) The Glass Chair: Unlocking the Value of Women in Finance. OneStream. https://view.onestream.com/the-glass-chair/p/1
[3] (2023, Nov) Lifting financial performance by investing in women. Blackrock. https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/literature/whitepaper/lifting-financial-performance-by-investing-in-women.pdf
[4] Wiersema, M., and Mors, M. (2023, Nov 17) Research: How Women Improve Decision-Making on Boards. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2023/11/research-how-women-improve-decision-making-on-boards
[5] Cappabianca, C. (2023, Jul 12) Identifying and measuring sources of alpha in gender factors. Impax Asset Management. https://impaxam.com/insights-and-news/blog/identifying-and-measuring-sources-of-alpha-in-gender-factors/
[6] Kolostyak, S. (2021, Oct 22) Is Performance Linked to Gender Diversity? Morningstar. https://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/214500/is-performance-linked-to-gender-diversity.aspx
[7] Kersley, R. (2021, Sep) The CS Gender 3000 in 2021: Broadening the diversity discussion. Credit Suisse Research Institute. https://www.credit-suisse.com/about-us-news/en/articles/media-releases/credit-suisse-gender-3000-report-shows-women-hold-almost-a-quart-202109.html
[8] (2022) Women Count 2022: The Role, Value, and Number of Female Executives in the FTSE 350. The Pipeline. https://execpipeline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Women-Count-2022.pdf
[9] Milhomem, C. (2021, Mar 8) Women on Boards: The Hidden Environmental Connection? MSCI. https://www.msci.com/www/blog-posts/women-on-boards-the-hidden/02361079223
[10] Gorte, J. (2021, Sep 14) The Business Case for Diversity: 2021 Update. Impax Asset Management. https://impaxam.com/insights-and-news/blog/the-business-case-for-diversity-2021-update/
[11] (2021, Sep 9) Women CEOs lead to more women on boards and in senior management. [1] Corporate Women Directors International https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/women-ceos-lead-to-more-women-on-boards-and-in-senior-management-301372536.html
[12] Basak, S., and Green, J. (2019, Oct 16) Female CFOs Brought in $1.8 Trillion More Than Male Peers. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-16/female-cfos-brought-in-1-8-trillion-more-than-male-peers
[13] Wartzman, R., and Tang, K. (2020, Oct 23) If Women Drop Out of the Labor Force, Corporate Effectiveness Will Suffer. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-women-drop-out-of-the-labor-force-corporate-effectiveness-will-suffer-11603465200?mod=hp_featst_pos4
[14] (2020, Feb 12) Gender-diverse corporate boards reduce financial misconduct: U of T study. University of Toronto News. https://www.utoronto.ca/news/gender-diverse-corporate-boards-reduce-financial-misconduct-u-t-study
[15] Dixon-Fyle, S., Dolan, K., Hunt, V., and Prince, S. (2020, May 19) Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins-how-inclusion-matters
[16] (link no longer available.)
[17] Bennedsen, M., Simintzi, E., Tsoutsoura, M., and Wolfenzon, D. (2019, Jan 23) Research: Gender Pay Gaps Shrink When Companies Are Required to Disclose Them. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/01/research-gender-pay-gaps-shrink-when-companies-are-required-to-disclose-them
[18] Miller, S. (2020, Jan 15) Paid Family Leave, on the Rise, Helps Women Stay in the Workforce. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/paid-family-leave-helps-women-stay-in-the-workforce.aspx