Does Wall Street Need More Women?

(CBS)  Investor and philanthropist Jacki Zehner knows a thing or two about money.

In 1996, she became a Goldman Sachs partner - the youngest woman at the time to do so.

Now, retired after a 14-year Wall Street career, she's on a mission, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Wallace.

"If there had been a critical mass of women over a period of time at the decision-making tables, would we be in the place that we are in today? I don't think so," Zehner said.

The economic meltdown might not have been as severe, she says, if more women were in the executive suites on Wall Street.

Quoting a post-meltdown refrain: if instead of Lehman Brothers, it were Lehman Brothers and Sisters.

"I think we think about risk differently," Zehner said. "I think we are more risk measured. We're saying look at the numbers, look at the evidence."

The evidence: a recent report showed that while all hedge funds had an annual return of almost 6 percent, hedge funds run by women did better with a return of 9 percent.

And during the downturn last year, while all funds dropped 19 percent, funds run by women went down just below 10 percent.

"Women tend to collaborate, they tend to pool information together in ways, different from the way men operate," said Linda Basch of the National Council for Research on Women.

In fact, scientific studies have found that men take more risks in response to peer pressure than women and that there's a direct link between increased testosterone and a willingness to take risks. And that is not always good.

"When they get into tough situations, their testosterone rises and they do become more competitive and less aware of risk," Basch said.

That's why at Pax World Mutual Funds, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, three of the firm's six portfolio managers are women.

"I do think that when women are at the table, there's a richer discussion on issues like risk and that you make better decisions because of their input," said Joe Keefe, president and CEO of Pax World.

"It's not just the right thing to do anymore just because it's the right thing," Zehner said. "It's the right business thing to do."

Zehner hopes that more companies realize more women equals more money.

[sccrow712]

Her comment is sexist.

I have done my own research - I compared 25 mutual fund companies run by women, to 25 run by men.

The results showed LITTLE difference between the two.

The report that CBS used (from the National Council for the Research on Women) was obviously fudged.

The reason it was fudged was most likely to get government funding or some other kind of funding.

I have already added the results of my research to my web-site - and I am sharing it with as many people as possible.

CBS News needs to think twice before it starts spewing out such misandric drivel.

http://www.rip-factor.com/formen/mystuff/cbsnews3.html

I listed all the mutual fund companies I studied - so if there are any skeptics, they can feel free to verify all of my numbers.

CBS News:

Prepare to get some letters from myself and my friends - and some people who are not my friends - and some people I have never even met face to face before.

[terrellrebecca]

Wow! Such fear and vitriol in response to an atypical news story about Wallstreet :(
I thought the story was interesting and thought provoking. It makes sense that men and women approach risk differently, since various hormones have been proven to affect risk-taking.
What on earth is all this anger about?? That would be a good subject for CBS News' next story...

[sccrow712]

Anger is a normal reaction in the face of injustice terrellrebecca.

Passively tolerating EVIL and LIES is not a virtuous quality.


I am NOT surprised at your ignorance of the human condition.

[TLipscomb555]

Using your logic then the NBA is unbalanced and should hire short people and some of these short people should be women as well. And let us not forget about the obese people. ? Now do you understand how stupid your argument sounds?

[cgrumm]

The piece on women and finance on the CBS evening news was great. All of those interviewed provided much food for thought. I find it interesting that the few negative comments listed spend little time actual discussing the real issue that Wall St failed all of us but, rather make accusatory remarks that allow for no new learnings about this failure. I thought the report presented very interesting facts and pointed to a study that all can read for further illumination. We all need to look a at all possible reasons for the Wall St failure and sometimes the answers are hard to hear. Thanks CBS, you are not on my remote.

[guy4equality]

This report highlights the importance of achieving gender equality in all industries, though the decisions made on Wall Street have such a powerful effect on all our lives so the need for gender balance there is crucial. I don't see the point of the story being women are better than men, but they do bring unique and important views and skills to the table that should not be left out.

[TLipscomb555]

Using your logic then the NBA is unbalanced and should hire short people and some of these short people should be women as well. And let us not forget about the obese people. ? Now do you understand how stupid your argument sounds?

[sccrow712]

This story did not stand for equality.

It stood for male-bashing.

They were suggesting that MEN may have fueled the economic melt-down (not women):
"...Outperformed Those Run by Men, Whose Risk-Taking May Have Fueled Financial Meltdown"

This story has about as much to do with equality as Mouthwash has to do with Pianos.

[sccrow712]

I just did some more research: www.ncrw.org/hedgefund/ - this is a woman's group (gee, big surprise eh). Like most women's groups, they are not bent on making women look good, they are bent on making men look bad.

I read through their report on hedge funds.

The report contains NO REFERENCES AT ALL (read it for yourself). And, a big surprise, they do not list the hedge-funds that they researched.

The language in the report from ncrw is very clever as well:

"compared with ... a broader composite index of hedge funds"

This is simply a way of saying:

"compared with hedge-funds that did poorly so we could make a false claim and bias our research".

I DO NOT CARE IF I HAVE TO SPEND $174 TO GET INFORMATION FROM www.hedgefundresearch.com MYSELF.

I know that this "report" is biased, and I will expose this farce!

GUESS WHAT CBS NEWS:

I HAVE TWO MEDIA SOURCES THAT ARE ALREADY WILLING TO PUBLISH OR AIR MY FINDINGS.



YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY WITH THIS MALE-BASHING.

[trioblog]

Great news segment!

[love2ritabook]

I just received an email article today from Colorado Biz Magazine by Mike Wiesner, about microfinance and developing countries. I thought these 2 paragraphs played into this discussion well.
**********************************************************************

The microfinance idea is as basic as the old biblical proverb about ?teaching a man to fish.? It empowers very poor people to use small loans and other financial services to pull themselves out of poverty. Most programs focus on women because women are more likely to use their profits to invest in improving the quality of life for their families.



Women also understand reinvesting in their businesses to make them grow and have established themselves as better credit risks. Ultimately, the extreme poor are creditworthy individuals. All they need is an opportunity and they will take it. They are desperate to take it.

Mike Wiesner is International Director of Development for Adelante Foundation, which operates a microfinance institution in Honduras. Adelante?s U.S. office is based in Englewood

[svb61]

I'm surprised at the number of negative comments! What is everyone so afraid of? Jacki is simply saying let performance and numbers speak louder. What's so bad about that? Clearly there are fewer women in senior leadership roles on Wall Street firms than men and think of where that has landed us! How about giving the alternative a chance? Promote and include more women in the dialog and make a sincere effort to create the environment for inclusion and gender equality and let the results speak for themselves. If what you have doesn't work, how can you argue against something you haven't even tried?

[sccrow712]

Her story was nothing mare than a male-bashing farse.

She is not arguing in favor of women.
She is arguing against men - suggesting MEN ALONE were for economic melt-down:
"...Outperformed Those Run by Men, Whose Risk-Taking May Have Fueled Financial Meltdown"

This statement suggests that MEN may have been responsible for economic melt-down.

I think that all investors are responsible - not just them male ones.

Clearly a sexist statement.

AND GUESS WHAT:

I can back it up now:

http://www.rip-factor.com/formen/mystuff/cbsnews3.html

[florence17]

Thank you, Ms. Zehner, for giving us this important lens into Wall Street. Even without the data, we all know it to be true: women put the greater good first, plain and simple. Know that's hard to swallow but the truth will get us back on track. Thanks, Ms. Zehner!