Key Takeaways
- Despite ranking second globally for gender equality, only 6% of Finnish funds are managed solely by women.
- Mixed-gender teams oversee 21% of assets but only 11% of funds, and more than half of Finnish fund companies have no female-managed funds.
- Industry participants point to structural factors, including a male-dominated talent pipeline, long career paths into portfolio management, and low manager turnover.
Finland consistently ranks among the top countries for gender equality, but in fund management, the picture is starkly different.
Of the 417 Finnish-domiciled open-ended funds, only 31 are managed solely by a woman or all-female team, representing 6% of funds. Women are more frequently found in mixed-gender teams than leading funds independently.
Yet in the 2025 Global Gender Gap Report, Finland placed second globally, across economic participation, educational attainment, health, and political empowerment: a top-five position it has held since the report’s 2006 debut.
Lena Fahlén, CIO at the Swedish National Pension Fund AP7 and manager of Europe’s largest equity fund by assets under management, says diverse perspectives improve investment outcomes.
“It is generally very important to have diverse backgrounds and experiences in the asset management profession,” Fahlén says. “Being a portfolio manager is about having in-depth knowledge of your field, but also being creative and street smart. It is important to have wise people who collaborate and constantly challenge each other to generate the best ideas. In my experience, these discussions and analyses are far better when people are not all cut from the same cloth.”
Measured by assets under management, the lack of female fund managers in the Finnish market persist, but indicate that several larger funds include at least one female co-manager. Female-managed funds account for 6% of assets, while mixed-gender teams manage 21%, bringing the combined share to 27% of AUM - higher than their 17% share by fund count.
The analysis is based on the oldest share class of Finnish-domiciled funds, covering 417 funds in total.
More Than Half of Fund Companies Have No Female-Managed Funds
The imbalance is also evident at firm level. Among larger asset managers, Danske Invest has the highest proportion of funds managed solely by women. Four of its 12 Finnish-domiciled funds are led by a woman, representing 33% of its range. Aktia and eQ each have 17% of funds managed by women, with 13 of 35 funds for Aktia and 4 of 23 for eQ. S-Pankki has four female-managed funds out of 25, representing 16% of its range.
Nordea, the largest fund provider in Finland with 91 funds, has only five female-managed funds (5%) and 15 mixed-gender funds. Overall, 11 of the 21 fund companies in the dataset have no funds managed solely by a woman or an all-female team. Industry participants attribute this partly to a limited pipeline of female applicants.
“Historically, we have had clearly more male applicants for portfolio management-related jobs such as analyst, portfolio manager and fund manager,” says Carolus Reincke, chief investment officer at Titanium, which currently has no funds managed by women.
Female Fund Managers Are Scarce Across the Nordics
Finland’s 6% share of female-managed funds is broadly in line with the rest of the Nordic region. While Sweden stands out as the Nordic country with the most funds managed by women or all-female teams, its share remains low at 8%.
In Denmark and Norway, the figure is 3% in both countries. That corresponds to 21 out of 758 funds in Denmark and 11 out of 350 funds in Norway.
Denmark has the lowest share of mixed-gender portfolio teams in the region, with only 5% of funds managed jointly by men and women. Norway is at the other end of the spectrum, where 23% of funds have at least one female manager working alongside male colleagues.
Structural Factors Behind the Gender Gap
Titanium’s Reincke says several structural factors help explain the low representation of women among fund managers, highlighting the long and gradual career path typically required to become a fund manager in addition to the male-dominated applicant pool.
“A fund manager role is not something you can get a ready university education for,” Reincke says. “An employee usually slowly grows into a fund manager role, having first worked as an analyst, then as a junior portfolio manager, and then senior portfolio manager.”
He also points to what he describes as an upstream pipeline issue at universities, stating fewer female than male university students who pursue a path majoring in economics and finance.
AP7’s Fahlén stresses the importance of role models, supportive leadership, and structured career paths.
“It’s important to have female role models and supportive managers who encourage women to take risks. Clear career paths are also essential - starting as an assistant or junior manager and gradually growing into a senior role can help more people feel confident taking on the responsibility of managing funds.”
