Women do the business in credit, not in equities

A new survey by Alexander Mann Financial Markets suggests women are better represented at trading, selling and researching credit products, than they are at trading, selling and researching products like equities and commodities.

Alexander Mann surveyed 30 leading banks. It found that while just 11% of front office staff in equities divisions are women, women account for 19% of front office staff working with credit products. Proportionately, the largest population of women is in the credit research area, where nearly 30% of people are female.

By comparison, women are an endangered species in commodities research and equities trading, where they account for 5% and 4% of the respective totals.

Mike Brennan, managing director of Alexander Mann Financial Markets, puts the discrepancy down to the relative ease with which women can land top jobs in new credit-related product areas. "Women are more likely to be found in a senior role within a credit market, such as asset backed securities, than in equities where an 'old boy network' may still exist," he says.

Credit no cakewalk

Women working in the credit industry disparage the notion that it offers an easy route to the top. "The fact of the matter is, there's a small percentage of women working in credit, period," says one, who recently left a bank to set up her own structured finance company. She adds: "In structured credit and credit in general there's an appalling lack of senior women in some of the more quantitative and risk taking senior roles."

Monima Wardle, managing director of search firm City Analytics, agrees there are a healthy number of women in credit research positions. "I'd say there are about 50:50 men and women working in credit research." However, she says it's far from the easy option: "Credit research is more detailed and complex than equity research. You need to be able to perform financial gymnastics along the yield curve."