50 Women Leaders in Hedge Funds: New Study

The Hedge Fund Journal survey suggests that women today are managing a significant proportion of the hedge fund sector's assets under management—if the elite 50 women are an indicator. The survey includes 30 portfolio managers who run at least $100 billion of the sector's estimated $2 trillion in assets under management. In addition, nine COOs have responsibility for more than $100 billion of assets. "Thus, just our final 50 women have either portfolio management or operational responsibility for over $200 billion or 10% of industry assets," the journal said.

The study's authors doubted that minority mandates from U.S. pension funds have been more than marginally helpful to women. Indeed, they found that mainstream financial organizations, ranging from nonprofit foundations and endowments to investment banks and hedge funds "do not appear to have in place any so-called glass ceilings arresting the careers of women." This suggests that women can look forward to increasing opportunities in the future as hedge fund assets increase.

The geographic split of the top 50 women in the survey is broadly proportional to global hedge fund industry assets, with more than half based in the U.S., about a third in Europe with the rest coming from Asia.