Women represent 19% of alternative assets employees - Preqin

According to the research, this rate varies widely by role, and consistently declines according to seniority, with the average proportion of women among senior staff at 11% across the alternative assets industry.

'The low representation of women at alternative assets firms is an issue that has seen increasing attention over recent years,' commented Amy Bensted, Preqin's head of hedge fund products. 'Traditionally a male-dominated industry, the proportion of female employees across the industry is significantly less than 50%, with only investor relations teams in some asset class approaching or surpassing a rate of equal representation.'

Bensted added: 'It is notable that women are best represented in client-facing or finance roles, while the deal making and operations teams are the most male-dominated.

'In the same way, women are best represented in investor relations/marketing teams, as high as 53% at venture capital firms. The rate of women in investment teams is much smaller, as low as 10% at hedge funds. The board of directors for an average alternative assets fund, meanwhile, only comprises 5% female members.'

The data shows that the highest proportion of women is seen among junior employees, where they constitute 29% of the workforce.

'Beyond this, what is most striking is that even where women are well-represented among junior staff, this is not translating to more women in senior roles. The disparity in the rates of junior and senior female staff shows that progression through the industry remains rarer for women than for men. This contrasts sharply with institutional investors; women constitute one in five senior staff at public pensions, and more than one in three at foundations.

'The industry has some way to go before achieving true parity between genders, and this issue will continue to be closely monitored by commentators and industry bodies over the coming years,' Bensted concluded.