Women Moving Finance Forward

This women’s history month, take a moment to appreciate how far the financial industry has come over the years. Not only have we witnessed a digital transformation with the introduction of new technology and innovation, but we’ve also seen significant strides made towards gender equality. Long gone are the days of the ticker tape, but so too are the days when women were largely relegated to administrative roles.

Many prominent women have helped move the financial industry forward, and their remarkable achievements have paved the way for the success of others globally, including:

Maggie Lena Walker who started the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in 1903 and became the first woman to charter a bank in the US. Fast forward to just last year, Jane Fraser became the first female CEO of Citigroup, one of Wall Street’s largest banks.

In 1967, Muriel Siebert became the first woman member of the New York Stock Exchange.

Adena Friedman was named CEO of Nasdaq in 2017, becoming the first woman to lead a global stock exchange. We now have women like Lynn Martin and her predecessor Stacey Cunningham holding the prestigious position of NYSE President.

In 2021, Janet Yellen became the first female US treasury secretary.[1]

The accomplishments of these women demonstrate that the industry is moving in the right direction, but there is still important progress to be made on the disparity between women and men that hold leadership positions in finance. According to research from Morningstar and the CFA Institute, about 14% of global fund managers are women – a number that has remained relatively stagnant since the early 2000s.[2]

If the industry is going to continue to make progress, it’s critical to provide women with more opportunity, support, and resources to succeed in their roles and beyond. At Indus Valley Partners, we’re committed to fostering a positive environment that empowers our female employees to take on leadership roles – from spearheading sophisticated client projects and the creation of new solutions to managing full teams and departments. We celebrate our colleagues this month for their accomplishments and extend this celebration to all women contributing to moving finance forward globally.

[1] Jami Farkas, “10 Women Who Have Made Financial History,” GOBankingRates, August 26, 2021.

[2] Amanda Umpierrez, “Number of Women in Asset Management Roles Remains Stagnant,” PlanAdviser, April 13, 2021.