Mumbai: Women represent only seven percent of the total fund managers in mutual fund industry, much below the global standards, says a report. According to mutual fund tracker Morningstar, of the total 269 fund managers handling open-ended mutual fund products, a meagre 18 are women.
Together, these women manage assets worth Rs 2,320 billion in the industry, which is 15 per cent of the total assets in open-ended mutual fund, it said. In comparison, women are named fund managers at a relatively higher rate in various parts of the globe such as Hong Kong, Singapore, France, Spain, and Israel.
At least 20 per cent of fund managers are women in these markets. The report, which comes a day-ahead of international women's day celebrations, found that women fund managers in India tend to be fairly consistent in delivering returns.
"Out of the total assets managed by women fund managers, 80 per cent of the assets under management outperformed the benchmark/peer group average over 1 year basis, 71 per cent over 3 year basis and 72 per cent assets outperformed over 5 year basis," the report said.
"This has demonstrated the capability of women to drive consistent performance through multiple market cycles and remain in the top quadrant," it said. The 18 women fund managers handle schemes either as primary/secondary managers or as heads of equity/fixed income.
Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co, Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management, Birla Sun Life Asset Management, Franklin Templeton Asset Management (IND) Pvt Ltd, SBI Funds Management and UTI Asset Management Company are among the mutual fund houses that have women fund mangers.
"Needless to say, though we seem to have fewer women fund managers on board, the number seems to be going up gradually with new managers taking up the mantle of fund management over time," the report noted.
The study includes women fund managers who have been managing active as well as passive open ended funds in India. Mutual fund industry's asset base rose to an all-time high of Rs 17.89 trillion at the end of February, primarily on account of strong inflows in equity, income and money mark.
