Women in Financial Services: Global Asset Managers 

WIL at the Largest Asset Managers

Figure 1 summarizes current WIL metrics for the 25 largest global asset management firms by AUM as of September 30, 2023, representing investment assets of over $73 trillion. Also highlighted are signatory status for selected gender equality and DEI principles, inclusion in gender equality indexes, and whether the firm offers a gender lens or DEI equity fund for individual investors. These are updated figures from our similar 2021 analysis.

Figure 1: WIL Statistics for Top Asset Managers

Top Global Asset Managers	Headquarters	AUM (1) in $ billion	Women on Board of Directors (2)	Women in Top C-suite Roles (3)	Women Executives	Gender & DEI lens equity fund for individual investors	CFA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Code Signatory	UN Women's Empowerment Principles Signatory
BlackRock	U.S.	9,101	29%	1	21%	Yes	Yes	Yes
Vanguard Group	U.S.	7,800	25%	0	25%	No	No	No
UBS Group	Switzerland	5,373	33%	1	38%	Yes	No	Yes
Fidelity Investments	U.S.	4,400	n/a	3	n/a	Yes	No	No
State Street Global Advisors	U.S.	3,687	33%	1	20%	Yes	Yes	No
Morgan Stanley	U.S.	3,245	29%	1	23%	Yes	Yes	No
JP Morgan Chase	U.S.	3,186	45%	1	41%	No	No	Certain units
Goldman Sachs	U.S.	2,680	38%	0	33%	No	No	No
Credit Agricole	France	2,660	48%	1	35%	No	No	Yes
Capital Group	U.S.	2,300	n/a	2	50%	No	No	No
Allianz Group	Germany	2,278	42%	1	33%	No	No	Yes
Amundi (division of Credit Agricole)	France	2,079	54%	1	36%	Yes	No	No
Bank of New York Mellon	U.S.	1,821	40%	1	40%	Yes	No	No
Edward Jones Investments	U.S.	1,762	n/a	1	43%	No	No	No
PIMCO (autonomous subsidiary of Allianz Group)	U.S.	1,740	20%	0	45%	No	No	Yes
Bank of America	U.S.	1,497	36%	1	33%	No	No	Yes
Invesco Ltd	U.S.	1,487	36%	1	33%	No	No	No
Legal & General Group	U.K.	1,462	42%	1	31%	No	Yes	No
Deutsche Bank	Germany	1,407	40%	1	11%	No	No	No
Franklin Resources	U.S.	1,374	27%	1	22%	No	Yes	No
Prudential Financial	U.S.	1,361	50%	0	33%	No	No	Certain units
T. Rowe Price	U.S.	1,350	31%	2	27%	No	No	No
Northern Trust Corporation	U.S.	1,333	25%	0	30%	No	Yes	No
BNP Paribas	France	1,268	46%	0	33%	No	No	Certain units
TIAA (including Nuveen)	U.S.	1,212	61%	1	38%	No	Certain units	No
(1) Source: ADV Ratings and company public 9/30/2023 disclosures
(2) Source: Company websites as of 11/30/2023
(3) Includes Chair, Vice Chair, CEO, CFO, COO and CIO (or head of asset management if no CIO).

Summary finding from the analysis include:

• Average women’s board representation for these firms is above the broad market averages at 38%. Ten firms have achieved at least 40% representation, while only three have reached 50% women on their boards: TIAA, Amundi, and Prudential Financial.
• The 2021 leaders on board representation were BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, Amundi, T. Rowe Price, and BlackRock. Of those, female board representation has declined at Goldman Sachs, T. Rowe Price, and BlackRock, indicating that progress can be precarious. BNP Paribas has remained steady, while Amundi has increased, with both exceeding the E.U. mandate of 40% by mid-2026 for non-executive directors. 
• Not much progress has been made for women in the C-suites of the world’s largest asset managers. Six of these top firms have no women in top C-suite roles, and another 16 have only one.
• Average executive committee membership for women stands at 32% for this dataset, up from 27% in 2021.
  • Notably, the current average is well above the S&P 500 and MSCI World figures for executive committee level representation, and solidly above the FTSE 350.
  • This points to a broken rung between executive committee and C-suite.
• Only nine of these firms or their subsidiaries are signatories to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles, and only seven have signed onto the CFA Institute’s DEI principles.
• In looking at the suite of Solactive Equileap gender equality equity indexes, constructed from Equileap data on 19 specific gender equality metrics, only six firms are constituents of at least one index. The Forbes-Statista global rankings include only five of these firms, and the FT-Statista Europe Diversity rankings include seven.
  • The other two global rankings are in contrast with the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, which has 13 firms represented by its five pillars of leadership, pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and brand.
  • Allianz Group is the only of these top global asset managers to appear on all four lists.

Global Asset Managers and Diversity-Related Proxy Voting Guidelines

The top global asset managers have a variety of shareholder advocacy policies in place to support greater corporate diversity, including progress toward gender equality. Figure 2 summarizes available diversity-related voting guidelines for the top 25 global asset managers.

Highlights from the analysis include:

• In 2021 a growing number of asset managers were announcing a willingness to vote against non-diverse boards, within a range of approaches. Many firms called for the disclosure of board diversity data. This year a number of firms have expressed a policy of supporting at least 30% female board representation, but other firms have dialed back on specified thresholds. Some firms still specify a lack of support only for all-male boards.
• Support for disclosure of board and workforce demographics data has become more solidified.
• Many policies are including wide definitions of diversity, and there is a trend toward emphasizing gender and racial/ethnic thresholds.
• There has not been a meaningful increase in expressed support for gender pay gap data, but it is included in some of the policies.

Figure 2: Diversity Voting Guidelines 

Asset Manager	Date of Policy	Stated stewardship policies on diversity
BlackRock	23-Jan	U.S. companies should aspire to 30% board diversity; encourages large companies, such as S&P 500, to lead. Board diversity means at least two women and one member of an underrepresented group. May vote against nominating committees where approach to board diversity is not adequately disclosed. Encourages companies to disclose EEO-1 data.
Vanguard Group	23-Feb	Will vote against boards in U.S. where disclosures and progress on board diversity is insufficient. Board diversity should include gender, race, and ethnicity. Does not advocate mandates. May support proposals to disclose EEO-1 data.
		Expects companies in Europe and U.K. to demonstrate progress toward 30% board diversity. May support disclosure of workforce diversity data.
		Expects TOPIX100 Japanese companies to demonstrate board diversity progress. May support proposals to disclose workforce diversity data and board's role on DEI policies.
		> In all markets does not support proposals asking companies to exclude sexual orientation and gender diversity from diversity metrics.
UBS Group	2023	Will require 40% board diversity by 2025, with initial focus on gender and enthnicity. Will vote against all-male boards; developed market companies with at least 10 board members or US$10 billion market cap that does not have 30% women on the board; any company not in keeping with local market board diversity standards above the policy; company in market where ethnic diversity data is available and does not have at least one underrepresented board member. Supports proposals to disclosure workforce demographics data and median gender pay gap data.
Fidelity Investments	23-Feb	Will generally oppose the election of certain or all directors if: there are no women; less than 2 women on board of 10, no racial/ethnic diversity.
State Street Global Advisors	23-Mar	Expects all listed boards to have at least one woman. R3000 to have at least 30% women for three consecutive years. Expects R1000 companies to to disclose demographics of board, and S&P companies to have at least one underrepresented racial/ethnic group on board.
Morgan Stanley	23-Mar	Generally supports proposals urging board diversity of gender, race and other factors if board has failed to take diversity into account. Generally supports proposals seeking disclosure of board and workforce diversity and related policies.
JP Morgan Chase	2023	North America: Generally votes against nominating committee where board is not at least 30% diverse and lacks at least one woman and one racial minority. Generally supports: 1. Proposals asking for gender pay-gap data or related policies. 2. Proposals calling for disclosure of EEO-1 or comparable data. 3. Linkage of executive compensation to material environmental and social factors, including diversity and inclusion.
		Global: Will use voting power to being about change where boards are lacking in gender and racial/ethnic diversity. Supports proposals calling for release of EEO-1 or comparable data. Companies should have regard for gender pay gap and indicate to s/h how will address.
		U.K.: Supports target of one-third women board representation, in line with gov. recommendation.
		Japan: Will require more than one female board member beginning in 2024. At least 30% female board representation by 2030.
Goldman Sachs	23-Mar	Votes against or withholds if not at least 10% female board representation for all global companies, with additional S&P 500 expectation for at least one minority board member. Supports proposals calling for amendment to EEO policies to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Case-by- case basis on proposals for gender pay gap data.
Capital Group	23-Feb	Expects that companies can articulate plan for diversity of workforce, management, and board. Supports disclosure of EEO-1 or comparable data.
Allianz Group	2023	Generally votes against boards with less than 30% female representation. (Not applicable to Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore.) Expects board to have ethnic diversity. Supports proposals seeking workforce demographics data and gender pay gap data.
Amundi (division of Credit Agricole)	2023	Works with proxy voting services to assist in the voting of proxies per its guidelines. No specified guideline on gender diversity of board or workforce.
Bank of New York Mellon	23-Mar	Generally votes against nominating committee of all-male boards. Generally for proposals to disclose material info to assess human capital, including in support of diverse workforce, pay equity, health and safety.
Edward Jones Investments	2023	Retains nonaffiliated third-party proxy voting service.
PIMCO (autonomous subsidiary of Allianz Group)	2023	Generally votes according to recommendations of independent proxy voting service provider.
Invesco Ltd	23-Jul	Generally votes against boards with less than two women or under 25% female representation, whichever is lower, for two+ consecurtive years. Considers broader diversity on range of metrics, will vote against nominating committee if multiple diversity concerns.
Legal & General Group	2022	For North America market, expects women to make up at least one-third of board directors and named executive officers - and expects S&P 500 companies to lead on this. For smaller companies, expects at least one woman on board while moving toward one-third target. From 2022 will vote against S&P 500 companies without at least one ethnically diverse member. Expects companies to have diversity and inclusion policy, with broad focus on inclusion. Companies lacking gender diversity should consider linking executive pay to targets. Expects companies to disclose board, executive, and management demographics data and gender pay gap information.
Deutsche Bank	2023	For developed markets, requires at least 30% female board representation and endorse the European directive on board gender diversity. For other global markets, expects at least one woman on board. Where relevant, boards should meet market best practices on racial/ethnic board diversity. Generally supports proposals requiring board to increase diversity and proposals seeking EEO-1 or comparable workforce data.
		For Japan, expects a focus on board gender diversity with a goal of attaining 25%.
Franklin Resources	2023	Generally supports proposals requesting disclosure of diversity data and targets, and disclosure of gender pay gaps. Managers subscribe to research and recommendations by Glass, Lewis & Co. and Institutional Shareholder Services - managers may take those analyses into account, while they are not seen as definitive.
T. Rowe Price	23-Feb	Expects board diversity on range of metrics. In Americas region, will oppose nominating committee where find no evidence of board diversity. In EMEA markets with regulatory mandates or listing guidelines re board diversity, generally applies same expectations. In Europe, larger companies should have 30% women on boards, smaller companies at least one woman. Elsewhere in EMEA, diversity policy is applied to single-gender boards.
Northern Trust Corporation	22-Dec	May vote against directors if concerns re the composition and diversity of boards. Votes on case-by-case basis on proposals seeking workforce demographics data and/or diversity policies.
BNP Paribas		Abstains or votes against boards if (1) less than 35% female representation for companies in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and (2) less than 20% women for other markets. From 2025 will apply a 40% women on board threshold unless significant progress has been made or if CEO/Chair is a woman.
TIAA	21-Feb	Expects boards to reflect gender, racial, and ethnic diversity and embrace an inclusive culture.
Source: Publicly available proxy voting guidelines and stewardship statements.