Tim Hughes joins the conversation... 'Where are the women?'

Last week our Hot Topics panellists gave their reasons for women's low representation in the industry, along with solutions to fix it. Tim Hughes, former CIO of Catholic Super, adds his perspective on the issue.

"Gender imbalance is a particular issue in the investment management side of the industry rather than in superannuation, administration or sales and marketing. And the imbalance is significantly worse in Australia than in some other countries, most notably those in Asia. Go to an investment management conference in Australia and it is often 90% men. In Asia you often find around 40% women.

"I put this down to women (for whatever reason) continuing to dominate child-rearing responsibilities in the home. To combine this with a senior career requires flexibility and support either at home or in the workplace. In Asia the availability of relatively inexpensive domestic labour provides a very large degree of flexibility on the home front and I think that this really shows in the number of women occupying senior position in the industry.

"If this strong home support is not an option in Australia then we need much more flexible and supportive work places."

If you'd like to join the conversation too, email us at [email protected]

Read Introducing the Industry Moves Hot Topics Panel - Where are the women?