Demand for “gender-lens investing” strategies has boomed as investors seek to put capital to work in companies that address gender equality in the workplace.
In the public markets alone, US$2.4 billion is invested in a variety of gender-lens strategies, like Pax Ellevate Global Women’s Leadership Fund (PXWEX) and SPDR State Street Global Advisors’ Gender Diversity Index ETF (SHE), up from US$100 million only four years ago, according to Veris Wealth Partners.
But, what does it mean to invest with a gender lens? Approaches vary, from strictly investing in companies with women in positions of influence, to investing in companies that provide services to benefit women in society. Public funds often offer a more narrow approach than private capital funds.
Research released last month from the Wharton Social Impact Initiative is likely to add to this debate by creating what the authors view as concrete standards that companies need to have to be considered a good employer for women.
“If you don't have standards, then you don't really know what you're aiming for,” says Katherine Klein, an author of the report, and the vice dean of the initiative.
Four for Women: A Framework for Evaluating Companies’ Impact on the Women They Employ lays out criteria the authors gleaned by reviewing and synthesizing “hundreds” of rigorous, peer-reviewed academic studies of an array of companies in diverse industries and locations.
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