Merely 1 in 10 C-level positions in the asset management and broader finance industry are filled by women. This statistic doesn't just apply to the very top of the corporate ladder: women make up 14% of all fund managers and 18% of total employees in private equity. Women on Wall Street, in the investment management industry, and the international finance industry often face an increased unique structural challenge as the industry typically thrives on, and rewards, traits that are associated with men. From New York to Beijing, Lily Jin used her investment career experiences, resources, and influence to pave the way for women in the broader finance and asset management industry by founding a community and mutual assistance platform called HerValue. The sole mission of HerValue is to advance women's representation and development in the broader finance and asset management industry in China. She has been joined by the 2021 HerValue working group and HerValue's management team in 2022 to actively build the community and achieve its mission.
TopNarrative
Merely 1 in 10 C-level positions in the asset management and broader finance industry are filled by women (CFA Institute Research Foundation Gender Diversity in Investment Management, 2016, May). This statistic doesn’t just apply to the top of the corporate ladder: women make up 14% of all fund managers (Benjamin, 2021, March) and 18% of total employees in private equity (Preqin, 2017, October). While the lack of women representation is an issue across the workforce, women on Wall Street, in the investment management industry, and the finance industry face an increased structural challenge. Because this industry typically thrives on and rewards masculine traits that are associated with men by pop culture and society construct.
While Lily was in New York before moving to Beijing, she experienced firsthand life on Wall Street as the only or one of few women on deal teams and at front offices of the investment banks. The industry is known for its aggressive competitive culture and an up-or-out system which requires a race up the promotion ladder or else one will be eased out. She worked hard to strike a balance between performance, likeability, aggressiveness, assertiveness as a woman and she moved up the system. But she was disappointed to witness the high turnover rate and frustrated by the big pay gap between her and her male colleagues. The drastic pay difference applies across the world with one survey showing that female bankers earned 45% less than male bankers (Wilson and Dakers, 2021, September).
The above factors created an environment in the industry that does not welcome women to help others or receive help because doing so is associated with being weak, difficult, or at the risk of alienation. This is an issue that have resulted women largely being unsatisfied at work, typically with investment banks’ commitment to diversity, specifically for women (Loosvelt, 2020, August). Although the investment community in the United States has a long way to go in addressing such issues, the community became more supportive on increasing women representation. Therefore, many established industry groups like 100 Women in Finance and Girls Who Invest have emerged to address and advance on such cause.
The difficulties related to such issues are magnified when Lily started building an international investment career while balancing her life. The society traditionally accepts women to unconditionally follow their partners’ careers and care for their family. Not the other way around. She received a career opportunity that took her life from New York to Beijing. In addition to an international relocation, this amazing experience pivoted her into investments. She is currently investing in companies, CEOs, CFOs with instruments from direct debt to direct equity and fueling their operations, growth across South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands. As she arrived in Beijing, she was on the hunt for a community that could support her in this pivotal moment. The issue of low representation and being stigmatized applies from New York to Beijing. But unlike the states where there are already successful industry groups for women in the broader finance industry, there aren’t comparable specific industry groups for those women in finance in China. She saw the potential and was encouraged by the possibility that China can benefit from a community that promotes development, positive values, and acts as the support system for women investment professionals and those in the industry. This is how HerValue was created, a genuine place for women professionals in the industry. Its sole mission is to advance women’s representation and development in the asset management industry and the broader finance industry in China. These factors propelled her to take actions and things into her own hands. She thought – yes, it is time! HerValue was born, as a mutual-assistance platform and community, serving women in the asset management and broader finance industry in China.