A recent report by IG Prime analyses the correlation between fund performance and female leadership in the UAE, the UK, Singapore, Switzerland, and Australia. 

The latest report by IG Prime reveals that only 14.5 per cent of the hedge fund senior management team are female. It also looks at the impact gender has on performance.

Of all senior fund management teams, only 14.8 per cent of members overall were female in Australia. The UAE meanwhile had the lowest proportion of female leadership along with Singapore, standing at 7.7 per cent, the report states.

The UAE did, however, show the highest signs of correlation between female leadership and fund performance. In the 12-month and three-year performance metrics, there was a significantly positive impact on fund performance following female leadership, it adds. 

Switzerland and the UK had the highest proportions of women in leadership roles of all markets, both standing at 16.2 per cent. After five years of female management, UK funds also saw a slight increase in performance, implying that it may be beneficial to hire women for senior positions in the longer term, the report states.

Overall, the report nevertheless found no precise correlation between female leadership and performance, stating that the gender of the fund manager shouldn’t be a deciding factor when investing. Instead, focus should be put on their experience and strategies, it adds.

Katja Bergman, general partner and co-founder at BRIGHTLY Ventures said: “It’s not all women, it’s not all men, it’s the mixed teams that's the recipe; those are the ones that excel.

The report concludes that the amount of women in leadership positions remains minimal and more should be done to support gender equality in the workplace because it’s an important factor in promoting inclusivity. IG Prime, an institutional trading and prime brokerage solutions provider collected survey data from 250 UK hedge fund traders and portfolio managers aged 21 and over.