International Women’s Day 2024: Investing in Women and Inspiring Inclusion

Each year on International Women’s Day, we check in on the progress that has been made with female representation in the industry and closing the gender pay gap. Every year there’s progress—but it always seems slow.

According to Equileap’s 2024 survey of 3,795 companies worldwide with a market value of at least $2 billion, women account for just 30% of board members, 22% of executives, and 27% of senior management positions.

Although there’s still plenty of work to be done, that representation creates opportunities for investors.

Big investors tend to see diversity as a good thing for companies and a source of competitive advantage, writes Lindsey Stewart of Morningstar. For example, Vanguard’s funds “look for boards to be ‘fit for purpose’ by reflecting sufficient diversity of skills, experience, perspective, and personal characteristics (such as gender, age, race, and ethnicity) resulting in cognitive diversity that enables effective, independent oversight on behalf of all shareholders.” Similarly, BlackRock sees it as “a means to promoting diversity of thought and avoiding ‘groupthink’ in the board’s advising of and overseeing management.”

Morningstar’s coverage for International Women’s Day includes a vigorous, persuasive assessment of why change has been so slow—and it’s not about pay discrimination. Jackie Cook of Morningstar Sustainalytics unearths the real drivers in this compelling piece. We also highlight companies with strong gender policies that look undervalued in the US and abroad, or have durable competitive advantages, or have female CEOs—companies like oh, say, Accenture ACN, Clorox CLX, and Zoetis ZTS.

We also offer up a list of 30 outstanding female fund managers, whose exceptional skills and consistent performance deserve investors’ attention.

And for women, whose net worth has traditionally lagged men’s, we have advice on getting finances in order. We check in with “The Budgetnista” about taking control of one’s finances and setting achievable financial goals and strategies to attain them. And we look into the popular TikTok meme of #GirlMath, and consider if the principles have any merit.

We’ll be adding to our coverage throughout the week. Check out our list of stories below, and check back on Morningstar.com for more. Meanwhile, happy investing.