How women fund managers outperformed in 2017

Women fund managers proved their worth last year with assets under management (AUMs) rising 32 per cent to Rs 3,06,500 crore and generated solid returns within their peer groups. In 2016, total assets managed by the women managers stood at Rs 2,32,000 crore, according to a  report by mutual fund Morningstar which throws light on the performance of the female fund managers ahead of the International Women's Day on March 8, 2018.

The number of women in fund management in India has been gradually going up over the years, but the numbers show that we still have a long way to go, says the report. Of the total 291 fund managers who handled open-ended mutual fund products in 2017, a meagre 24 were women.

Hence, the representation of the fairer sex in this profession remained low at 8 per cent. These low numbers are below global standards with many Asian countries showing highest representation of women in the mutual fund industry, the report said.

The figure is marginally higher compared to 18 women out of 269 fund managers in 2016. The report further noted that these 24 women managers cumulatively manage assets worth Rs 3,06,500 crore, which is about 15 per cent of the total assets under management for open ended funds.

Interestingly, the report observed that women managers have generated solid returns within their peer groups.

"As we dig deeper into the data we find that out of the total assets managed by women fund managers, 61 per cent of the AUM outperformed the benchmark/peer group average over 1-year basis, 81 per cent over 3-year basis and 86 per cent over 5-year basis," the report said.

"Thus, over the long-term funds managed/overseen by women managers have delivered significant outperformance versus peers," it added.

Lakshmi Iyer, CIO (Debt) and head of products at Kotak Mahindra Asset Management, Bekxy Kuriakose, head, fixed income at Principal PNB Asset Management, Sunaina Da Cunha, fund manager at Birla Sun Life Asset Management and Anju Chhajer, senior fund manager at Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management, are some of the leading names in fund managing business on the fixed income side.

Roshi Jain, fund manager at Franklin Templeton Asst Mgmt (IND), Sohini Andani, fund manager at SBI Funds Management and Swati Kulkarni, fund manager at UTI Asset Management Company, are well known for managing equity funds, the report said.