Following a now 5-year tradition, on the week of March 8, we have picked up a theme related to gender inequality and requested inputs from local actors. This year, we focused on the gender gap in self-promotion. Women are known to brag less than men (yes, studies show that) and that can be a disadvantage in a male-dominated industry such as finance. So we asked men to draw attention to a female colleague and help her find the spotlight she is not seeking for herself. What we learned in the process is that only those brave enough were willing to do so. Many declined and that left us puzzled. We might explore this question further next year – stay tuned for IWD 2024!
On the same theme, Willis Towers Watson published a report on Tuesday which, again, shows that the gender diversity premium isn’t a myth. Investment teams in the top quartile of gender diversity outperform the bottom quartile by 45bps per annum in terms of net excess return. Diversity may be the next free lunch after diversification. We also took a closer look at the data in terms of gender pension gap, where Sweden doesn’t rank as well as other Nordic countries, mainly due to a policy gap.
Other things happened this week too. The CDP‘s report shows results were worse than last year. In another report, campaign groups Clean Creatives and Comms Declare df highlight PR and AD agencies behind the global communications strategies fo the fossil fuel industry which got the Laundromat working again. Last Saturday, UN delegates finalised the wording of a UN Ocean Treaty, an agreement that seeks to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Back in Stockholm, Schroders won a Morningstar award on Tuesday for its Global Sustainable Growth Fund. And last week, Richard was busy collecting insights at the edie 2003 conference “Leadership Through Crisis” which brought together more than 600 delegates and speakers in London.
