Report Examines Studies on Funds Managed by Women

A recent review of the research on diversity and investment performance finds strong evidence that diverse managers perform at least as well as non-diverse managers. The report summarizes the findings of 46 studies published over the past 25+ years that, combined, examine almost 50 years of data. Almost all of the studies find either no difference in the performance results achieved by diverse managers and other managers or that investments managed by women or minorities outperform. Only 6 of the studies find that women or diverse teams underperform. In addition, the review concludes that there is strong evidence that women take less risk and trade less in their personal accounts; however, the evidence does not support drawing similar conclusions about the risk and trading of female professional investors. The research review, which was published by the Investment Adviser Association (IAA), is titled “Diversity and Investment Performance: A Summary of the Research.” It was authored by consultant and independent fund director Theresa Hamacher, who will discuss the report in a Forum webinar on February 1. Registration is available here.