Giving Compass' Take:
- Anton Wilen discusses a new study that has demonstrated how male-dominated private equity continues to be, even in Sweden.
- Why does private equity continue to be largely impenetrable for women? What can be done to fix these gender equity issues?
- Read about the importance of understanding structural inequity with a gender lens.
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In one of the world’s most gender-equal societies, private equity has once again been outed as a surprisingly stubborn bastion of male dominance.
Just 19% of board seats at portfolio companies owned by PE firms are held by women, according to a study by HUI Research commissioned by the Swedish Private Equity & Venture Capital Association published on Thursday. That compares with roughly a third of seats at companies traded on the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm index. The report also cited a “major gender imbalance” when it comes to PE firms’ own investment committees, where only 16% are women.
Private equity has long stood out as one of the most impenetrable areas of finance for women. A 2019 Bloomberg analysis found that they fill only 8% of senior investment roles globally at the 10 largest firms that use debt to buy companies. The lack of diversity may prove increasingly awkward as end-investors such as pension funds demand more social sensitivity from the external managers they hire.
Read the full article about private equity’s continued male bias by Anton Wilen at Bloomberg.