Gender Lens Investing Initiative (original) (raw)

Gender Lens Investing Overview

Gender lens investing, often referred to as GLI, is a strategy or approach to investing that considers gender-based factors across the investment process to advance gender equality and better inform investment decisions. Gender lens investing can take place across any asset class or sector, with investors most often addressing areas like social opportunity, employment and economic attainment. The Global Impact Investing Network works to support investors implementing gender lens investing with resources and up-to-date information.

In 2024 we published In-Focus: Gender and Impact Investing, a report analyzing gender lens investing trends from a global sample of impact investors. This research was funded by the Australian Government through the Investing in Women Initiative.

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Why is gender lens investing important?

At its core, gender lens investing seeks to close what is commonly referred to as the “gender gap.” The gender gap is the difference between women and men as reflected in social, political, intellectual, cultural or economic attainments or attitudes, as defined by the World Economic Forum. These differences can intersect with race and other identities to increase the barriers women face to social and economic parity. Visit the Global Gender Gap Report 2024 to learn more.

The lack of gender equity has been a systemic issue in the business and investment community throughout its existence, but there is growing evidence that pursuing gender equity as an investor will have positive benefits for investing, business and society. A few examples include:

• Financial performance of companies with women in leadership — Companies with women in executive management repeatedly outperform companies that have no women in senior roles, according to research from McKinsey.
• Securing talent from a larger pool of talent — representing roughly 50% of the world’s population, women are an underrepresented pool of talent in the workforce. Studies also show that diverse workforces support better talent retention, labor practices, business ethics and climate strategy, according to McKinsey.
• Empowering women economically creates a virtuous circle — Globally, the purchasing power of women is growing, and companies and investors are taking note of the opportunity to access this capital. Furthermore, women are investors, a growing segment of which use a gender lens investing strategy. Entrepreneurs who can effectively demonstrate their ability to empower women will have greater success accessing these capital sources than those who cannot.

While gender lens investing typically refers to investments that benefit women and girls, some investors engage in strategies to support marginalized gender identities that exist outside the sex binary. Visit the International Finance Corporation to learn more about LGBTI lens investing.

Despite the growing consciousness of the impact and financial return for investors using gender lens investing strategies, the gender gap continues to persist across the wider investment landscape. For example, only 1.4% of the total U.S.-based assets under management in 2021 were managed by firms owned by women or people of color combined, according to the Knight Foundation. The GIIN, whose network includes a variety of qualified gender lens investors, continues to identify new ways to help guide investors’ decision-making as they work to address the challenge of gender diversity.

What does gender lens investing look like?

Gender lens investing encompasses strategies focused on both the outcomes and the approach of investing for gender equity.

Outcomes:

• Investing in women-owned or women-led enterprises
• Investing in enterprises that promote workplace equity in areas like staffing, management, boardroom representation and in supply chains
• Investing in enterprises that offer products or services that substantially improve the lives of women and girls

Approaches:

• Focusing on gender, from pre-investment activities like sourcing and due diligence to post-deal monitoring, including strategic advisory and exiting
• Examining investee enterprises for:
  • Their vision or mission to address gender issues
  • Their organizational structure, culture, internal policies and workplace environment
  • Their use of data and metrics for the gender-equitable management of performance and to incentivize behavioral change and accountability
  • How their financial and human resources signify overall commitment to gender equality

GIIN activities and resources on gender lens investing:

The GIIN has a number of resources available for impact investors and other stakeholders aiming to strengthen their gender lens investing efforts.

The GIIN collects data and regularly publishes insights on many aspects of the impact investing industry, including gender and gender lens investing. Our latest report on this subject is In-Focus: Gender and Impact Investing in 2024. This research was funded by the Australian Government through the Investing in Women Initiative.

In 2017 the GIIN launched the gender lens investing initiative to explore the investment opportunities and challenges in catalyzing and scaling gender lens investing. This initiative, which concluded in 2019, aimed to build a compelling case for gender lens investing, and ultimately, to increase the amount of capital deployed with a gender lens.

During this 18-month window, the GIIN first delivered a series of educational webinars and compiled a database of GLI allocations and strategies, followed by the launch of a working group to engage members in periodic discussions and exchange best practice. Some of the outcomes of the initiative include:

• Online GLI Resource Repository . A curated set of GLI reports and case studies to help make the business case for gender lens investing and showcase how to invest with a gender lens. View the GLI resource repository here.
• GLI Case Studies. A set of case studies on how GIIN members, Glenmede and Phatisa, developed their GLI strategies. These testimonies include investments in varies asset classes and investment types (ESG investments, private equity, venture capital, etc.)
• Navigating Impact Project Gender Lens Theme. A resource created to help investors select GLI impact strategies and adopt metrics that indicate performance toward impact goals. View the navigating impact project gender lens theme here.

To learn about upcoming workshops and webinars, including on gender lens investing, sign-up to receive the IRIS+ newsletter here or reach out to us via email to the member engagement team. To more deeply engage with the GIIN’s expertise on gender lens investing, consider GIIN Membership.