Viewing Technology Stocks through a Gender Lens

Ample analysis demonstrates that firms with increased ranges of ladies in management (WIL) report superior efficiency on a spread of metrics. Based on WIL and different gender fairness standards, the 29 gender lens equity funds (GLEFs) accessible to particular person traders embrace 13 international fairness funds and 16 regional fairness choices. As of 31 March 2021, AUM for the GLEF group is $3.28 billion.

In tandem with international equities, these funds generally turned in single-digit gains for the three-month period ended 31 March 2021, with a number of funds within the double digits. Twelve-month absolute returns have been strongly constructive for the worldwide and regional fairness segments. Relative efficiency for each intervals was combined.

Amid the nascent financial restoration, financials is the most important AUM-weighted GICS sector allocation for the group as of 31 March, adopted by info know-how. These sectors have been buying and selling the highest allocation spot for the GLEF group for the previous two years.

No sector scored above 50% in reaching equality, based on the 2020 “Gender Equality Global Report and Ranking” by Equileap, which gives gender scores on a world dataset of the three,700 largest public firms. Sector scores have been in a small band of 31% to 39%, with info know-how in final place. Persistent gender inequality in know-how companies isn’t a brand new phenomenon and has been extensively documented.

Know-how Shares Flip in a Milder Quarter

For the previous two calendar years, the most important know-how and tech-related shares have been driving broad market returns. This pattern slowed its course in the course of the first quarter, because the S&P 500 Data Know-how NTR Index trailed the S&P 500 Index. Seven of the most important know-how suppliers have grow to be generally known as the FANGMAN shares: Fb, Apple, NVIDIA, Google (Alphabet), Microsoft, Amazon, and Netflix. These posted combined returns for the quarter, with solely three outperforming the S&P 500 Index.

Amazon, Fb, and Google are going through anti-trust regulatory scrutiny. Fb and Google have come underneath stress for information privateness and safety points, and Netflix faces elevated competitors.

Even so, the market cap of those FANGMAN shares ended the quarter at US $8.16 trillion, 17% of the total US stock market as of 31 March. Twelve-month returns remained robust, with all however two outperforming the S&P 500 Index for the interval.

Gender Highlight on the Largest Know-how Shares

There are 157 unique top 10 holdings in the GLEF group. Of those, 87 fall into the worldwide fairness funds phase. Data know-how represents the most important variety of high 10 holdings with 37, adopted by industrials (27), shopper discretionary (26), and financials (24). (Three of the FANGMAN — Apple, Microsoft, and NVIDIA — are within the GICS info know-how sector; Alphabet, Fb, and Netflix are in communication providers; and Amazon is in shopper discretionary.)

All the FANGMAN shares seem within the first-quarter high holdings listing. Two of the US fairness GLEFs, the Constancy Girls’s Management Fund (Canada) and Affect Shares YWCA Girls’s Empowerment ETF, maintain six of the seven. Among the many international fairness funds, all besides the UBS International Gender Equality UCITS ETF maintain at the least one, with six funds holding three of them. Among the many 22 international and North American fairness funds, 15 maintain Microsoft, 10 maintain Amazon, and 7 maintain Netflix. Google is held by solely two GLEFs.

WIL metrics for the FANGMAN are combined, with vital gaps on the high. None have a feminine CEO, board chair, or president, trailing the S&P 500, where women are 6% of CEOs. There are three feminine CFOs and two females COOs within the group. Board illustration is a shiny spot. Microsoft and Fb have the strongest feminine board illustration within the group, at 45% and 44%, respectively, adopted by Amazon’s 40%. Solely NVIDIA trails the S&P 500 (28%) and Equileap (25%) averages for ladies on boards.

However for ladies within the workforce, solely Netflix and Amazon are at or above common. All others path each the S&P and the Equileap common workforce illustration of 45% and 37%, respectively. Amazon and Microsoft each lag the Equileap dataset in govt stage management of 17%.

Amongst FANGMAN firms, ladies are underrepresented within the workforce and in essentially the most senior positions, however they fare common or above on boards.

In different gender metrics, 4 of the seven FANGMAN have ended or by no means used compelled arbitration to deal with sexual harassment claims, based on the Force the Issue database, a joint undertaking between Adasina Capital, Tara Well being, and others. The coverage has come underneath criticism for permitting employers to hide allegations of misconduct.

4 of the seven are included in Arjuna Capital’s latest Scorecard on gender and racial pay hole transparency, the place Fb, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon all earned C grades. Additionally, solely Fb, Google, and Microsoft are signatories to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles. Not one of the FANGMAN landed within the 2020 Equileap high 100 listing of company gender equality leaders.

There are 34 non-FANGMAN info know-how high holdings within the GLEF group. As an entire, the WIL metrics of those firms outrank the FANGMAN, suggesting that the GLEF funding standards end in superior WIL than is being rewarded by the market. There are three feminine CEOs, or 9%, which places the non-FANGMAN high information tech holdings above the 6% CEOs within the S&P 500 and effectively above the 0% within the FANGMAN. Along with one chair and one president, there are eight feminine CFOs. Most notably, feminine board illustration inside this non-FANGMAN group is 74%, effectively above the S&P 500 and Equileap averages. 32% don’t use compelled arbitration to resolve sexual harassment disputes.

All of this information reemphasizes a recurring theme: The tempo of progress for gender fairness is simply too gradual and rather more must be achieved throughout the investing panorama earlier than ladies are equitably represented.

For extra evaluation from Marypat Smucker, CFA, go to Parallelle Finance.

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All posts are the opinion of the creator. As such, they shouldn’t be construed as funding recommendation, nor do the opinions expressed essentially replicate the views of CFA Institute or the creator’s employer.

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