More women take up key research positions at major securities companies


Women are making inroads into the financial sector at a rapid pace, taking up more specialist positions such as fund managers and analysts.

According to brokerages and the Korea Financial Investment Association, the proportion of female analysts and fund managers is rising, following the broader trend of the gender gap narrowing in the workplace.

The most significant change is taking place in the research divisions of major securities houses. The job had been dominated by men, but a growing number of women are demonstrating their expertise.

The country’s top 10 brokerages employ 558 researchers, and the number of women reached 140, or 25.1 percent of the total.

Samsung Securities, for instance, has assigned 31.1 percent of research positions to women. At Mirae Asset, another leading brokerage, the figure is 33.3 percent.

The rise in the proportion of women at research positions is a recent phenomenon, largely because the tasks required for researchers are deemed highly demanding, both physically and mentally.

As researchers track the macroeconomic trends as well as corporate issues closely, they are under enormous pressure to come up with productive results to stay competitive.

Brokerage officials said the overall ratio of women in the total research workforce was less than 5 percent about seven years ago. Even the positions filled by female researchers were then limited to the cosmetics and fashion industries.

Now, female researchers are everywhere from economists to pharmaceuticals to education to daily market reports, managing their demanding jobs competently.

One of the toughest positions is market reporting, which calls for an ability to handle constant updates and responding to calls from investors and journalists. Several women analysts recently made their names in this field.

In the fund management sector, women’s careers are improving. Regulator’s data showed that local fund management companies are opening up their doors to female managers. In 2010, the proportion of female fund managers at local funds was 10.2 percent in January 2010 before rising to 13.1 percent by January 2011. This year, the figure is estimated to have surpassed 15 percent.

Some female workers at fund management firms and brokerages have been promoted to executive positions. Financial firms are also accepting more female experts in private banking.

Samsung Securities, which has the biggest pool of private bankers, employs 365 female specialists in that field, accounting for 32.7 percent of the total.

By Yang Sung-jin (insight@heraldcorp.com)