In 2015/2016 we compiled an introductory selection of reading based on our knowledge of the field and the multiple lenses that make up the women effect. This should provide a starting point for anyone with an interest in gender lens investing. For news articles and blogs, see News.
The rise of gender capitalism
Sarah Kaplan and Jackie Vanderbrug | Stanford Innovation Review | September 2014
This SSIR article put gender lens investing on the map, from one of the leading practioners in the field - Jackie Vanderbrug from US Trust, and Sarah Kaplan, a business academic that has studied this field extensively. Read it for a great overview of the concept and application. It highlights the incorporation of gender in an investment framework and provides practical examples for practitioners.
Is Gender Diversity Profitable? Evidence from a Global Survey
Marcus Noland, Tyler Moran and Barbara Kotschwar | Petersen Institute for International Economics | February 2016
Analysis of a global survey of 21,980 firms from 91 countries reveals the relative dearth of women in high leadership positions. The results find no impact of board gender quotas on firm performance, but they suggest that the payoffs of policies that facilitate women rising through the corporate ranks more broadly could be significant.
Gender Lens Investing: Uncovering Opportunities For Growth, Returns, And Impact
Jackie Vanderbrug and Joseph Quinlan | October 2016
Gender Lens Investing, co-authored by the Managing Director and Chief Market Strategist of U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, is the first book of its kind to examine, in-depth the advantages of integrating gender into investment analysis. While other books speak to growing numbers and influence of women, this book moves from economic trends to financial strategy.
Investing to Advance Women: A guide for Individual and Institutional Investors
USSIF Foundation | June 2014
This guide is intended as a practical guide for individuals and institutions interested in learning about investment opportunities that help advance women.
The Women Effect
Alliance Magazine | Suzanne Biegel | June 2014
Women Effect founder Suzanne Biegel's introduction to Gender Lens investing - a primer with a conceptual framework and practical applications.
Harness the power of the purse: Winning women investors
Andrea Turner Moffitt and Sylvia Ann Hewlett | March 2015
What's driving the market failure for women investors? Andrea Turner Moffitt, a leading thinker on women and investing, cracks the code on how to fully harness the power of the purse, offering a roadmap full of tactics for winning the biggest growth market: women.
The State of the Field of Gender Lens Investing
Criterion Institute | Joy Anderson and Katherine Miles | October 2015
A definitive and comprehensive state of the field report on gender lens investing from the Criterion Institute, with a focus on incorporating gender analysis into the valuation of financial investments. It is targeted at philanthropists, donor/development agencies, investors and others looking to understand the overall dynamics of this emerging field, and the road map to the future.
The Sky's The Limit
Young Foundation | Ceri Goddard | May 2016
New Gender Futures report defines gender lens investing, how it generates financial return and advances gender equality and what needs to happen to build the field in the UK.
Fast forward: how women can achieve power and purpose
Melanne Verveer and Kim K. Azzarelli | September 2016
Through interviews with a network of more than seventy trailblazing women, Fast Forward shows women how to accelerate their growing economic power and combine it with purpose to find both success and meaning in their lives.
Women, Wealth and Impact: Investing with a Gender Lens 2.0
Veris Wealth Partners | Luisamaria Ruiz Carlile, Lori Choi, CFA, Patricia Farrar-Rovas, CIMA, Alison Pyott, CFP | March 2015
The most recent edition of one of the first reports on incorporating a gender lens for investors and philanthropists. It highlights gender inclusiveness expressed in terms of women's access to capital, education and employment and introduces the concept of transforming investment portfolios to include gender considerations.
Investing for Positive Impact on Women
Trillium Asset Management | Kristin Lang, Joshua Humphreys and Christi Electris of Croatan Institute | November 2015
This comprehensive report in collaboration with organizations operating in the gender lens investing field presents case studies and actionable investment opportunities. Highly recommended for its survey of current literature combined with practical strategies to integrate gender into active portfolios.
Belief-based social innovation: Gender Lens' Next Frontier
Stanford Social Innovation Review | Emily Nielsen Jones and Musimbi Kanyoro | December 2015
The gender-lens movement is beginning to fund culturally led efforts to transform underlying beliefs that systematically disempower females in the first place.
Impact with wings: Stories to inspire and mobilize women angel investors and entrepreneurs
Suzanne Andrews, Jagruti Bhikha, Karen Bairley Kruger, Christine Emilie Lim, Wingee Sin, Hana Yang, and contributions from Geri Stengel and Susan Preston | April 2016
In a world where women’s capital remains underused, angel investing offers a potent opportunity for women to impact the future. The authors—all seasoned players in the global business and investment community—share their personal stories and insiders’ insights in a clarion wake-up call intended to activate new women angel investors.
Women and Social Enterprises: How Gender Integration Can Boost Entrepreneurial Solutions to Poverty
International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) | Allison M. Glinski, Lizzette Soria, Natacha Stevanovic, Liliane Winograd, Sara Ku, and Katherine Fritz | October 2015
Recognizing the benefits of integrating women across the value chain – such as increased sales and profitability, and enhanced equity- now more than ever, investors are seeking opportunities in companies where gender has been integrated. ICRW in collaboration with Acumen, a non-profit investing in companies that serve the poor with basic good and services, set out to study how the impact investment sector can engage with and empower women.
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2014 Women's Report
GEM | Donna Kelley, Candida Brush, Patricia Greene, Mike Herrington, Abdul Ali, Penny Kew | November 2015
The GEM Special Report: Women’s Entrepreneurship offers an in-depth view of women who start and run businesses around the world. It provides a broadly global and comprehensively detailed foundation to guide future research, policy decision-making and the design of initiatives and programs to enhance awareness and participation in women’s entrepreneurship.
Does corporate gender equality lead to outperformance?
RobecoSAM | December 2015
Gender equality from a corporate perspective encompasses issues of workforce diversity as well as equal pay and career opportunities. Analysis of a unique gender-based dataset collected by RobecoSAM and based on criteria identified in collaboration with the EDGE Certified Foundation in terms of gender representation, pay and promotion. The work is consistent with the growing body of academic research that finds that gender diversity and equality contribute to better corporate performance and investment returns.
Womenomics 4.0: Time to Walk the Talk
Goldman Sachs | Kathy Matsui et al | May 2014
With Japan’s population set to shrink by 30% and the elderly ratio expected to reach 40% by 2060, Japan has much to gain by boosting female employment.
