Why don't more females apply to fund management?

There are lots more senior women fund managers than senior women investment bankers. But fund management recruiters say female students are slow to apply to the sector. What's the problem?

The problem - fewer than average female applicants

At investment banks women typically account for 30% of applicants at graduate level. Our research suggests the figure is some 10% lower for fund management firms - the average fund management company with a graduate recruitment programme receives 20% or less of its graduate applications from women.

Schroder Investment Management, Baillie Gifford, F&C Asset Management, Aegon Asset Management, and Barclays Global Investors, all say around 20% of their graduate applicants are women. So what are fund management firms doing wrong?.

The cause - fund management's low profile?

Peter Cole, head of human resources at F&C Asset Management, says the UK fund management industry lags investment banking when it comes to promoting staff diversity: "Banks are very advanced in this area. Most have taken a lead from their offices in the U.S."

It doesn't help that fund managers rarely appear on campus. Deidre Galvin, head of graduate recruitment at Morley Fund Management, says the company only hires four people every year and already receives hundreds of applications. "There's less need for us to do face-to-face events," she says.

Kos Lesses, head of graduate recruitment at Schroders, says female applicants are less aware of the opportunities on offer in fund management: "There's a lack of education about what asset managers do. At university, the emphasis tends to be on opportunities in investment banking."

The big advantage of working in fund management - flexible working

It's all a bit of a shame because, ostensibly at least, fund management has got plenty to offer women in search of a career - including the possibility of having a life alongside work.

Melissa White, head of graduate recruitment at Barclays Global Investors, says that, unlike investment banks where corporate financiers often slave away into the small hours of the morning, the working day for most fund managers ends at a civilised hour: "It would be unusual for you to work much later than 6pm."

For women (and men) trying to strike that work/life balance, fund management is a more flexible field. Richard Barry, head of graduate recruitment at Scottish fund manager Baillie Gifford, says part-time work and flexible working arrangements are common in the industry: "You can easily work remotely or on a part time basis." Morley Fund Management, for example, has one fund manager (a man) who works from his home in Norfolk two days a week.

That fund management is a friendly place for women is suggested by the number of them who occupy senior positions in the industry. It's not just the flexibility that appeals. Fund management also offers successful women a serious shot at seniority, and boasts plenty of women in senior positions. Take Nicola Horlick, the feisty founder of Bramdean Asset Management. There's also Helena Morrissey, chief executive of Newton Investment Management, Katherine Garrett-Cox, chief investment officer at Morley Fund Management, or Karina Litvack, head of socially responsible investing at Isis Asset Management - to name but a few.

The fund management firms' response - a bit lacklustre?

Their efforts aren't exactly on a par with investment banks' zealous diversity recruitment campaigns, but some fund management companies are working to attract more women through their doors.

Barclays Global Investors plans to run women's days, in which female students are invited to the company's offices and shown what fund management is all about. If you think you may be interested, White says to check the Barclays Global graduate website in September/October for more info

In the past Fidelity Investments has supported Capital Chances, a programme aimed at offering women a taste of what working in finance involves. Check the Chances website for more information

Galvin says Morley Fund Management is upping its efforts to retain and promote women once they've arrived. In conjunction with its parent company Aviva plc, it has launched a women's group. Once a quarter, she says the group meets to listen to key speakers in senior positions across the fund management industry, and socialise with other women working at Morley.