ABSTRACT
While the environmental component of investing along ESG guidelines (environment, social, and governance) has received significant attention from investors, many of the social and governance factors have received less attention. Another important area of opportunity for thematic consideration is in gender diversity. Gender diversity is valuable to businesses: a variety of social backgrounds provides a better foundation for generating innovative solutions, insulating the company from volatility in the macroeconomic sphere, and ultimately delivering higher returns for investors. Recently we have seen businesses and investors alike place a higher value on diversity in the workplace, which has led to developments such as the Bloomberg Financial Services Diversity Index, as well as thematic investments, such as the SHE ETF. Gender diversity, like climate change, is an issue that crosses economic, political, and social boundaries, and as investors gain interest, more comprehensive tools will be developed to quantify this field.
