Patricia Farrar-Rivas, CEO of Veris Wealth Partners
Mandates dedicated to gender-lens investing have grown in just four years from $100 million to $2.4 billion globally, according to wealth management firm Veris Wealth Partners, with the number of strategies jumping from eight to 35.
From June 2017 to June 2018, more than $1 billion in assets was added.
“It’s been a year where we have had gender pay-gap revelations and sexual harassment scandals, but we’ve also had a great deal of positive momentum around capital being allocated to gender-lens strategies,” says Patricia Farrar-Rivas, CEO of Veris.
“We are realizing that one way to remedy these gender issues is by investing in women and business that support women.”
There are many reasons for the jump.
For one, larger investors have been committing to gender-lens investing: CalSTRS (California State Teachers’ Retirement System) seeded the State Street Global Advisors ‘SHE’ ETF with $250 million in 2016, and OMERS (Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System) invested $100 million this year.
Greater awareness of the role of capital in progressing women’s rights and gender equity from movements such as #MeToo and the UN’s sustainable development goal No.
