Private Debt Intelligence – 5/21/2018

Women Account for Less than a Fifth of Private Debt Employees

The lack of female representation in alternative assets has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, as women account for less than a fifth of employees in firms across all alternative asset classes. When looking at the representation of women in different levels seniority, as expected, female employees account for a significantly smaller proportion of senior positions compared to more junior roles.

Just under a fifth (19.1%) of employees who work in private debt are female, in line with women representing 19% of employees across the alternatives industry. Across all alternative asset classes tracked by Preqin, women saw less representation in employment in only private equity (17.9%) and hedge funds (18.6%). Women comprise the largest proportion of employees in private real estate, where they make up 20.6% of all employees. The proportion of women in private debt falls when looking at senior positions: while women make up 27% of employees in junior positions in private debt, they make up 22% of mid-level positions, and just 11% of senior roles.

By role function, women are more likely to be employed in investor relations and marketing, where they make up just under half (49%) of the staff in those roles. However, although they account for two-thirds of junior roles, they make up less than a third (30%) of employees in senior roles. After investor relations and marketing, women are next most likely to be employed in finance or accountancy roles. Women make up a third of finance and accountancy staff, including 47% of junior roles and 18% of senior positions. Women are least likely to be found in investment team roles, accounting for just 14% of employees in the role function. Again, this proportion drops within seniority: just 8% of senior investment team members are comprised of women in private debt firms.

Contact: Naomi Feliz
naomi.feliz@preqin.com