Industry insights
Industry reports and thought leadership delving into trends and analysis within investment management
Industry insights
Stay informed with our latest industry reports and insightful articles, exploring diversity, performance and the evolving landscape of investment management.
Gender diversity in investment management
Incorporating three years of workforce data from 22 investment firms and insights from interviews with female investors, this report finds we can achieve gender equality by 2030 if we maintain current momentum.
Gender diversity in private wealth
In Australia’s private wealth sector, achieving gender equality is both a strategic imperative and a significant growth opportunity. This report tracks the status of gender equality in Australian private wealth teams.
Insights to master your inner game
Leadership expert and Future IM/Pact founder, Yolanda Beattie, shares her insights, experiences and advice on mastering the inner game of leadership, investing, career and life.
Building a robust pipeline of female talent from the ground up is essential to increase the overall number of women in the industry and reduce reliance on talent recycling.nt to share their experiences with others.”
We're making progress, but it's hard-fought
Findings from Mercer’s 2017 research into female representation in investment management revealed significant structural and cultural barriers for women in front-office roles, leading to the creation of Future IM/Pact.
Building on this foundational work, we released two new reports in 2024: Path to parity and Women in wealth, assessing progress toward gender equality in Australian investment and private wealth teams. These reports indicate that while female representation has increased, notable challenges persist.
Key findings: Path to parity
- Women’s hiring, promotion, and retention rates are now equal to or greater than those of men at most levels, although female senior analysts face higher exit rates due to talent poaching.
- The greatest improvements are at entry-level roles. While women secure more internships, men receive twice as many graduate positions.
- Female representation in portfolio manager roles has declined to 19%, a 4% drop since 2017.
- Achieving overall gender parity (40% women, 40% men, 20% any gender) is possible within seven years.
Key findings: Women in wealth
- Women occupy 25% of advice roles, with strong entry-level representation, but this drops to 13% at senior levels.
- Despite increased recruitment, men are still more likely to be promoted, and women are more likely to leave at the senior associate and adviser levels.
- Long progression timelines and male-dominated environments hinder women’s career growth, with many young women unaware of opportunities in private wealth.
- Women who navigate these barriers tend to thrive in advice roles, while investment functions within private wealth teams have achieved gender parity with 42% female representation at analyst and senior analyst levels.
- Equalising appointment, promotion, and retention rates could achieve gender parity by 2030; however, if current trends continue, women may only represent 32% of the workforce by that time.
Increasing the number of female private wealth advisers will take bold leadership, a long-term commitment, and collaborating across industry to tackle the barriers that stop women from successfully applying for these roles that in many ways are ideally suited to them.
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