Women Fund Managers Are Rare In India But Deliver Consistent Returns

Excellence doesn't always help break the glass ceiling in India's mutual fund industry.

Only 7 percent of India's 269 money managers are women but they have been fairly consistent in generating returns, according to data collected by Morningstar, a U.S.-headquartered investment research and management firm.

Out of the total assets managed by women fund managers, 80 percent of the AUMs outperformed the benchmark index or peer group average over one-year basis, 71 percent over three-year basis and 72 percent over five-year basis, the study highlighted.

Together, India's 18 women fund managers oversee 15 percent of the total assets under management (AUM) of all open-ended funds, roughly translating to Rs 2.32 lakh crore, the report said.

The situation in India is in stark contrast to countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, France, Spain, and Israel, where at least 20 percent of fund managers are women, the report said.

Much of the disparity can be attributed to fewer women opting for management studies while choosing their specialisation, said Rama Seth, professor of Finance and Control at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta.

Seth said colleges have taken steps to attract more women students to management courses.

Some top women fund managers Morningstar referred to in its study include Swati Kulkarni of UTI Mutual Fund, Lakshmi Iyer of Kotak Mahindra AMC, Anju Chhajer of Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management, Sunaina Da Cunha of Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company, Roshi Jain of Franklin Templeton Asset Management and Sohini Andani of SBI Funds Management.

Women are good at multi-tasking as they manage both home and office, Iyer told BloombergQuint over the phone. “They are uniquely qualified to manage sudden market movements,” said Iyer, who has been with Kotak for the last 17 years.

The study has taken into account only open-ended mutual fund schemes.