Gender lens equity funds grow assets to $2.67bn in 2020 as tech exposure helps performance

Microsoft and Visa among top holdings

Assets under management (AUM) in gender lens equity funds grew 40% in 2020 to $2.67bn boosted by $106m in new funds launched during the year, as well as the performance of the technology sector, according to new research.

In its Gender Lens Investing 2021 report, Parallelle Finance attributed the double-digit gains recorded by most publicly-traded gender lens equity funds last year to their allocations to information technology, a sector which "strongly outperformed" for the year. The report revealed there were "no clear winners on gender equality" when it came to sectors but that information technology and financial services, both sectors with "well-researched gaps in gender equality", were among the top sector weightings in these funds in 2020. Pushing for greater diversity and sustainability: Our aw...