Despite women accounting for a greater proportion of senior private equity professionals at institutional investors than at private equity firms, women are still underrepresented in the industry.
A Preqin report finds that women account for 22% of senior private equity investment professionals at institutional investors, a notably higher proportion than at private equity firms, where women account for just 11% of senior roles.
On a geographical basis, North America-based institutional investors employ the highest proportion of women in senior private equity positions at 25.9%, compared with just 11% for private equity firms based in North America.
At institutional investors based in the Asia-Pacific region, women account for 17.4% of senior private equity investment staff; in Europe, women account for 16.8%. This compares with 11.8% for private equity firms based in Asia-Pacific and 9.7% for firms based in Europe.
In terms of firm size, in investment teams at institutional investors with one or two senior professionals managing their private equity investments, 21.9% of senior professionals are women. Investors with three or four senior private equity professionals have the largest proportion of female senior staff at 22.7%.
In contrast, at private equity firms with between one and five senior employees, just 8.4% are women, whereas at firms with more than 20 senior employees, 11.9% of these employees are women.
The representation of women also varies by the type of firm.
Women are currently least underrepresented in senior private equity roles at foundations at 37.3%, followed by endowment plans at 32.3%.
At government agencies, 26.9% of senior private equity roles are occupied by women, while women represent 22.5% of senior private equity roles at public pension funds.
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