Private equity and venture capital firms have been on the front foot in the investing space over the last few years also being a significant part of the economic activities across the world. However, female representation in the alternative investment industry continues to be among the lowest, a report by the BCG (Boston Consulting Group) and WinPE showed on Tuesday.
The report highlighting the issue of gender gap in investing comes in at a time when the Asian markets have witnessed companies with PE/VC funding rising sharply and with more expectations to do so in the next several years.
According to the latest IVCA-EY monthly PE/VC round-up, India garnered PE/VC investments worth $4.5 billion through 117 deals in January, whereas the exits accounted for $289 million across 14 deals during the same period.
In Q4 2021, WinPE and US-based Boston Consulting Group conducted two surveys to understand the diversification efforts progressing across Asia, including India. The first comprised 36 PE/VC firms, 29 of which are based in India, and seven in Southeast Asia. The second covers over 80 women from the industry in both India and other parts of Asia.
According to the report, the representation of women in PE/VC firms grew from 16% in 2018 to 25% in 2021. Further, it stated that at least 90% of the women feel safe in voicing their opinion at work, and nearly 80% say they feel valued and heard. However, there is more ground to cover and there are still gaps at mid-senior level roles, it said.
The report further aims to outline initiatives to promote gender diversity broadly by targeting four major areas, namely culture, recruitment, advancement, and leadership.
“Looking ahead, to continue to maintain momentum in improving gender diversity, PE/VC firms need to work to increase the number of women they are retaining and hiring into mid-to-senior level roles, encourage cultural acceptance of flexible work hours and hybrid working models across male and female employees. Firms should also look to enhance visibility of senior women role models and build communities,” Kanchan Samtani, MD and partner, BCG India, said in a statement.