Women Equity

Publié le 10 Mars 2010

Glass ceilings exist in old economy companies but the new economy was supposed to be different, opening up a new world of opportunities for women. Progress has been limited to date but Women Equity for Growth, the first European investment program specialized in the financial and operational support of women-led companies, is aiming to level the playing field. By Jennifer Schenker for Informilo.

The Paris-based group is launching three investment vehicles aimed at women-led companies in Europe in partnership with the fund management division of the European investment bank Bryan Garnier & Co. […]

A 2007 survey of 600 European venture-backed companies by British research outfit Library House found that those run by female chief executives delivered higher revenues using less capital than those headed by men. The Library House study showed that the average venture-backed company run by a woman had annual revenues that were 12% higher than those run by men, using on average one-third less committed capital, says Bouhacene. That is why she says she is convinced that investors in the new Women Equity for Growth funds will end up making better than average returns.

But it is not just investors but European economies that will benefit from a closing of the gender gap. Indeed, the reduction of economic inequalities between males and females is considered the principal level of economic growth in Western economies, says Bouhacene. Consequently, a reduction in economic gender inequalities would increase the gross domestic product (GDP) in America by 9% and the GDP in the European zone by 13%, according to April 2009 research from the World Forum Global 2009 Gender Gap Index and IMF's World Economic Outlook Database.

Women Equity for Growth points to how specific public support and private initiatives in the U.S. and U.K. have aided gender balance in business leadership, with good results. Research predicts that in 2012, half of the U.S. wealth shall be in the hands of women and by 2020 half of the new British millionaires are expected to be women, with a majority owing their wealth to their entrepreneurial success.

The Paris-based group argues that new vehicles to help businesswomen should be extended to Europe in order to seize an untapped reserve for growth. […]