French private equity remains male-oriented affair

On the face of it, french private equity teams may seem fairly diverse by financial sector standards: 40% of the overall staff in GPs surveyed by Deloitte are women, a figure that rose by a mere two points in 2011 compared with 2010.

Looking at job titles tells a very different story though. Women remain a rare sight in investment teams at 16.5%, down by a point compared to 2010 figures. This stands in stark contrast to support teams, where they make up 70% of staff.

The study also highlights that women working in French private equity still get promoted less than their male colleagues. Between 2010 and 2011, 19% of male analysts were promoted to investment directors – compared with 13% for women. The road to partnership is even harder: only 3% of female investment directors were promoted to partners, against 9% of their male equivalents.

On a positive note, recruitments were more favourable to women in 2011: 19% of overall staff were new female hires, compared to 15% in 2010 – though not enough to reverse the long-term trend, the study notes.

While 46% of the 92 GPs surveyed stated they were aiming for more diverse teams, 85% are not taking specific actions to promote this. Around three quarters are also not actively looking at introducing more women in executive boards at portfolio company level.

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