Are women better investors than men? Goldman Sachs thinks so.
There has always been a lack of diversity in leadership across all industries, and the investment and finance sectors are no exception. As far as gender diversity goes, the lack of female representation in the economy is a global issue. However, according to a study conducted by Goldman Sachs and the Financial Times in September 2020, it seems this issue is more prevalent in the US than it is in Europe, where it seems companies are slightly better at harnessing the power of women. The study also indicated that gender diversity in leadership roles leads to better results for the company.
To quote Francis Ewan Urquhart, the fictional politician in the UK “House of Cards” TV series: “You might very well think that; I couldn’t possibly comment”
Are women better investors than men? A question that is interesting, provocative and controversial in equal measures. There are even more interesting aspects to this them to follow especially given the fnancial company referenced - read on.
The question that really has to be asked here then, particularly of Goldman Sachs, from mainstream reporting in March 2018 and repeated again in March 2019 on the results of their own gender-gap annual reporting just why if they clearly recognise that women are better investors than men is Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “paying women in the U.K. an average of 50.6 percent less than male colleagues per hour”?
For year-end bonuses the gender gap is much wider at 66.7% in favour of men who also take home much bigger bonuses than women at Goldman Sachs.
Given that women investors, at Goldman Sachs at least, are seen to be surpassing their male counterpart’s investment performance why is their pay not also at least equal to the men’s, or even exceeding it, to reflect their true value to the company?
Perhaps someone from GS can advise why they are not putting their money where their mouth is.
On a more personal level whist I have left the corporate life and enjoy moderate success working for myself now, my partner remains a highly qualified arbitrage specialist with a major international investment finance company - no names here! When it comes to who is the ‘better investor’, to be honest I would credit her at being ahead of me, just.
What is more significant to this discussion here is that I am also aware that in her workplace, whilst she outperforms many of her colleagues (and seniors), there is still not an equitable cross gender pay structure in place.
