HESTA strengthens stance on gender diversity on release of new investment management survey results - HESTA

16 Jun 2025 10:43 AM

16 June 2025

 

HESTA is continuing its commitment to progress 40:40 gender balance across its investment value chain* and will look to commit future capital to gender diverse investment teams.  

 

The focus comes as the Fund today released the findings of its Gender Diversity in Investment Management 2024 progress survey. The biannual survey of investment partners reveals women now make up 28% of the investment management workforce among HESTA’s external managers. The figure is an increase on 24% in 2022 and 17% when the survey first ran in 2018.

 

The research on gender representation and workplace policies also anticipates that, for the first time, in 2025 all of HESTA’s investment partners will have mixed gender management teams – a significant milestone in the Fund’s push for improved gender parity across the funds management industry.

  

HESTA CEO Debby Blakey said the survey was an important piece of ongoing research, outlining where further improvements could be made.

 

“The research highlights encouraging signs of improvement. However there remains significant work ahead to address the underrepresentation of women in the industry and accelerate progress towards our aspiration of gender-balanced representation across the investment value chain by 2030,” Ms Blakey said.

 

“Research clearly shows organisations benefit from diversity in a number of ways from improved decision making, diversity of thought, greater innovation and enhanced financial performance.   

 

“We will continue to promote the value of greater diversity among our managers in the interest of our members’ long-term investment performance. Achieving gender balance by 2030 will require the support and commitment of our investment partners and the broader industry.” 

 

The research outlined some examples of industry progress, including initiatives from investment managers IFM and Generation Investment Management. IFM’s parental leave policies, updated in 2021, grant all eligible parents 26 weeks of paid leave, with expansion in 2022 to include surrogacy and foster care arrangements.

 

Generation’s returnship program was launched in 2019 and supports individuals returning to their careers after extended breaks, often for caregiving responsibilities, focusing on transferable skills and providing manager support. Both initiatives seek to address systemic barriers, diversify talent pipelines, and drive meaningful workplace change.

 

Since 2018, HESTA has regularly surveyed its domestic and international investment managers about their workforce gender diversity as part of a broader program to track gender diversity across the $93 billion fund’s investment value chain. 

 

Additional findings from the survey include:

• Women's participation in investment decision-making is steadily increasing, with women holding 24% of Investment Committee positions (up from 14% in 2020).
• The percentage of women in roles below Portfolio Manager (PM) level slipped from 32% to 30%, leaving opportunity to strengthen the pipeline. The number remains above 2020 levels of 26.5%.
• 45% of investment managers have established gender diversity targets for their investment teams (up from 34% in 2022).
• 100% of investment partners have implemented policies to prevent and respond to workplace sexual harassment.

 

As with the broader aspiration for its investment ecosystem, HESTA’s internal target for its investment management team is a 40:40:20 gender balance by 2030. As at June 30 2024, women comprised 42% of the team, including 67% of the Investment Committee.

 

As at reporting time, women accounted for 28% of the HESTA team at PM level or above, which was up from 18% in the prior survey. The pipeline of employees in the team below PM level remains strong, with 51% of roles filled by women. This figure has fallen from 57% in 2022, with part of the decline at this level due to promotions.

 

HESTA CIO Sonya Sawtell-Rickson outlined the super fund’s commitment to stronger action internally and from its investment partners to drive change in the industry.  
 
“All of HESTA’s investment partners now are anticipated to have mixed-gender investment teams this calendar year, which is a significant milestone and demonstrates the impact of our partners’ willingness to embrace diversity," Ms Sawtell-Rickson said.

 

“We remain committed to advancing gender diversity internally at HESTA and working with our investment partners to drive change. As part of our ambition to achieve this 40:40 target across our investment value chain, we will look for opportunities to allocate future capital to investment partners who capture the benefits of gender diversity.” 

 

To encourage greater gender diversity across investment management teams, HESTA has urged its investment partners to consider a number of deliberate and effective actions, including setting time-bound composition targets for gender diversity, conducting regular gender pay-gap analysis, introducing more inclusive workplace policies, and demonstrating a clear commitment to disclosure and transparency. These actions have been taken at HESTA.

 

Ends.

*The investment value chain includes all partners involved in how the Fund invests on behalf of members.

 

 

About HESTA

 

HESTA is one of the largest superannuation funds dedicated to Australia’s health and community services sector. An industry fund that’s run only to benefit members, HESTA now has more than one million members (around 80% of whom are women) and currently manages approximately $93 billion* in assets invested around the world.  

*Information is current as at the date of issue. 

About the survey: 

• Listed managers include Australian and International Equities, Currency, Cash and Fixed Interest and Liquid Alternatives investment managers. 
• Unlisted managers include Property, Infrastructure, Private Equity, Private Debt, Credit, and Alternatives investment managers. 
• All data included was provided by the investment managers and has not been further verified. Via the survey, HESTA requested gender composition data relating to the teams of investment professionals managing strategies on behalf of HESTA.  

 

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