The Pathway Programme was launched on 19 January 2023 and provided 60 women from 30 firms 30 training sessions over the course of a year, with the goal of training them to become successful portfolio managers.
At an event on Tuesday (6 December) hosted at lead sponsor Newton Investment Management's offices in London, the inaugural class ‘graduated' from the scheme.
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In a ceremony hosted by Mitesh Sheth, CIO for multi-asset at Newton IM and member of the ‘core' Pathway team, and chair of the Diversity Project Helena Morrissey, candidates in the programme were awarded their certificates of completion and invited into the project's alumni scheme.
In his opening speech, Sheth described the programme as "epic and historic", adding he felt "proud" to have been a part of a scheme created "for the industry, by the industry, based on just an idea a year ago".
Sheth said the committee behind the Programme wanted the outgoing cohort to "set the bar high" for the incoming group, "as the bar you set will be the baton others will pick up each year".
He continued: "There could not be a more exciting time to want to become a fund manager, or to want to be a leader in a fund management firm because this is a time of real regime change.
"A lot of what was true over the last 30 to 40 years is not true today and is not likely to be true in the future. Whether that is dealing with deglobalisation, decarbonisation or the divergence we are seeing in markets, dealing with social inequality or the huge transformation our industry needs to go through. or having more inclusive leadership - or indeed, coming together more as a system of thinkers.
"Our ambition is higher than simply filling a gender gap, which clearly exists within our industry, but rather to fill a potential existential hole in our industry's future, an industry which needs new heads, new perspectives, new hearts and new ways of thinking."
The class of 2024
As part of the Programme's development for the 2024 cohort, Morrissey addressed some of the lessons the organisers had taken from the first year's feedback.
She said one of the challenges had been catering to the varying levels of investment experience among the women, as some came from a non-financial focused background while others had a decade of experience on the buy side.
The new group has already been sent on a two day "bootcamp" with Fitch Learning to provide those with less experience pre-Programme preparation.
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New modules will also introduced, including a model portfolio competition and more practical development work for the cohort to engage with outside of the fixed sessions.
Speaking to Investment Week at the event, Morrissey said the Programme was also expanding for the new intake, taking on 80 participants in 2024, with 43 firms putting forward candidates.
She said some firms were not renewing their participation for 2024, not because they did not enjoy the programme but because "they did not have any more women to send".
"That is something we take note of and thought it was quite sad," she said.
Awards
Alongside the graduation ceremony, several of the women received induvial commendations for their efforts in the programme.
The main commendation of the night was the Suzanne Hutchins Driven to Learn Award, which was given to Yvoni Ouziel, an emerging market debt specialist at Amundi.
The award was in honour of the late Suzanne Hutchins, who died in December last year and was presented by her Newton IM colleagues.
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Hutchins was real return fund manager at Newton IM for almost three decades and was intimately involved in the development of the Programme, and had been scheduled to speak at the launch event.
Other awards included the ‘Outstanding Pathway Sponsor Award', which was awarded to Hilary Meads, head of the charities investment team at Newton IM, ‘Outstanding Trainer' awarded to Invesco head of multi-asset Georgina Taylor and the ‘Pathway Chair's Award', which was presented to Adrianna Webber, a project manager at the Diversity Project.
There was also a team award voted for by the audience on the night, which honoured the ‘Pay it forward' project, a collaboration to decide and develop how the now alumni would continue to support the Programme's initiative.
International expansion
Looking back on the first year, Morrissey said she felt "proud of the whole community which came together".
"I really believe that this has been the investment industry at its finest and I feel very hopeful and optimistic for the future of female fund managers after many, many years of setbacks, including this one where we have had sexual harassment scandals," she added.
"I feel now we are really onto something."
Morrissey said the board was now considering making the Programme available to global applicants, following approaches from US-based firm.
However, she clarified she wanted to have at least two years' worth of completed candidates in the home iteration before it was opened up internationally.