Women Fund Managers have Produced High Returns but are Drastically Under Represented

Mumbai: While there has been a steady increase in the number of fund managers in the mutual fund industry to 473 from 428 a year ago, male managers have made up for that rise. The number of women fund managers has remained static at 42, according to Morningstar India’s Women Fund Managers Report for 2024.

The year 2024 saw the mutual fund industry break through the Rs 50 lakh crore mark in assets under management (AUM) for the first time. The total AUM grew by an astounding 33 per cent to Rs 52.74 lakh crore as of January 31, 2024, up from last year's AUM of Rs 39.62 lakh crore. These assets are managed by 473 fund managers across all fund houses.

The total open- and closed-end assets managed/co managed by female fund managers was approximately Rs 6.66 lakh crore, or 12.63 per cent of the total mutual fund assets. The report pointed out that there has been a sharp uptick of 50 per cent in the assets managed by women, year-on-year. There was a drop in the previous year following the exit of two prominent women fund managers.

The most assets- Rs 2.86 lakh crore or 43 per cent are managed or co-managed in the equity and growth segment.

“Although the assets managed/co-managed by women are increasing, their percentage relative to the overall industry assets hasn't reached a noteworthy level yet. However, on a positive note, the assets in percentage terms did see an increase this year after witnessing regression in the past two years,” stated Morningstar.

As per the report, female fund managers also scored better in performance.“Our analysis reveals that among the total open-ended assets managed or co-managed by female fund managers, 70 per cent outperformed the peer group average over a one-year period, 71 per cent outperformed over a three-year span, and an impressive 93.5 per cent outperformed over five years,” said the report.

There are 42 female fund managers spread across 21 fund houses while the total number of fund houses in India has crossed 40. As there was no increase in the number of female fund managers since last year,

their representation has marginally declined from 9.18 per cent to 8.88 per cent.