Chauvinistic boys" club still rules asset management ©Nick Lowndes Almost a third of female asset management staff have been subjected to sexual harassment at work, while more than half have endured regular sexist behaviour in the office Almost a third of female asset management staff have been subjected to sexual harassment at work, while more than half have endured regular sexist behaviour in the office. According to the results of an FTfm survey of 340 global fund management staff, 55 per cent of women say they have been on the receiving end of "inappropriate" behaviour in the office. Over a third say they are subject to sexist conduct on a monthly or weekly basis. One female respondent to our survey, who works at a large US fund house, says several female colleagues have left fund management "as a direct result of gender discrimination and harassment." She says: "I was sexually harassed on countless occasions. It ranged from comments about my appearance [and] breasts [to] being constantly asked to help with printing [and] scanning. Another female executive based in continental Europe says that the few women who work at her alternative fund company are "treated like second-class citizens." Anne Richards, chief investment officer at Aberdeen Asset Management, the UK fund house, acknowledges that the survey findings are "shocking." Many male participants in the survey also accept that gender discrimination is rife. A male associate at a UK fund house says: "The rugby-team mentality still dominates in the boardroom and women only get on if they play the "team tart" or the "ball-breaking ice maiden," [which are] both unhealthy extremes." Another male respondent adds: "Women seem to be used for certain roles, [such as] marketing or corporate finance, where their "charms" are exploited. They [are] welcome elsewhere in the business as long as they ape alpha-male behaviour, or are seen but not heard. The comments are consistent with the survey findings, with 16 per cent of women saying they have felt pressured to exploit their sexuality in a professional context. In September a New York district court ordered Bank of America to pay $39m to settle a gender-bias lawsuit brought against its subsidiary, Merrill Lynch, by female advisers. The lawsuit alleged that Merrill discriminated against women by paying men more and providing them with preferable client accounts and referrals, as well as more professional and marketing support. More than 4,000 current and former female employees at Merrill are entitled to the settlement. But many senior fund executives suggest they have not witnessed problems with sexism. A male former chief executive of a large European fund company says: "I never saw anyone around me being bullied or discriminated against, but that does not mean it wasn't going on." Linda Gibson, head of global distribution at Old Mutual Asset Management, the US fund company, adds: "I am in an environment where I am the only female the majority of the time, and I never experienced [sexism]. Maybe I was fortunate, or maybe I have not even thought about letting it get in my way. Nonetheless, several senior female executives admit they have been subjected to sexist behaviour at work. Helena Morrissey, chief executive of Newton Investment Management, the UK fund company, says having her first child meant she was "passed over" for a promotion. Later in her career a female colleague warned her that her company was "not keen" on working mothers. Aberdeen's Ms Richards, meanwhile, says she has experienced "belittling behaviour" at shareholder meetings or with clients because of her gender. This includes being missed out in a round of introductions when male peers assume she is some kind of "bag carrier." In a more extreme example of sexist abuse, a former investment director at Bestinvest, the UK wealth manager, was found guilty of hiding a smartphone in office showers to film female colleagues secretly last January. He no longer works at the company. Despite such examples, the male ex-chief executive says the results "need to be taken with a pinch of salt." "Sometimes when you set up a survey and ask people to complain, they will complain," he says. Yes, fund management is a man's world, but that is more a reflection of society as a whole, rather than the investment market. His comments reflect a wide gulf in how men and women perceive gender discrimination in the workplace. Roughly two-thirds of women believe men in equivalent roles are paid more, but less than a fifth of men agree. Similarly, 60 per cent of women say that they are promoted more slowly than male counterparts, although just a quarter of men agree. Maternity leave is another significant issue for female fund staff, with 69 per cent citing it as a barrier to career success. The asset management culture "is intolerant of women who want to have children and return to work," according to a senior male respondent to the survey. A female survey participant adds: "It took me a good 12 months to establish any sort of role for myself on returning [after maternity leave], and it has been an enormous halt to my career." Ms Morrissey wants fund groups to take a bolder approach to discussing career planning with staff. "There is concern about legalities and what you can ask, but companies need to have a different conversation with mothers," she says. Shiv Taneja, managing director of Cerulli Associates, which assisted FTfm with the research, urges companies to be more transparent about the make-up of their organisations to tackle such "horrifying" findings. He says: "Employers have a lot to answer for. It is time [asset managers] put their heads above the parapet on this hugely important issue. There are signs some fund groups are taking the first steps. In the US, Putnam Investments and State Street recently signed an agreement alongside 36 Boston-based companies to compare data on internal pay practices to help tackle gender imbalances. In the UK, listed fund companies such as Schroders, Aberdeen Asset Management and Henderson have recently begun to comply with narrative reporting requirements that reveal gender balances throughout their organisations. Mark McCombe, Asia-Pacific chairman at BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company, which was co-founded by two women, believes the survey should act as "a wake-up call to companies globally to end sexual discrimination in all forms." To help stamp out less measurable forms of discrimination and harassment, Ms Richards says external whistleblowing hotlines should be set up to ensure women "can expose that behaviour in a way that will not destroy their careers if they report a colleague or client." One very senior male participant in the survey said he had seen a female colleague "complain about sexual harassment and [get] fired." Aberdeen Asset Management is also considering introducing subconscious-bias training for all staff to help tackle such issues. Newton's Ms Morrissey similarly wants to introduce gender training for all employees, as opposed to seminars for female staff alone on sales skills or assertiveness. She adds that women should avoid adopting perceived "male" characteristics in order to get ahead in the industry. She says: "When I was the only female fund manager in a room, it made me more distinctive, and I have always been flamboyant. You have to be true to yourself, or you hold yourself back. Although the chief executive recognises that the fund industry has a lot of work to do to attract and retain more women, she is hopeful that the situation will improve. She says: "I feel optimistic about the changes the industry can make - realistic, but optimistic."