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US SIF Foundation Releases Guide on Investing to Advance Women

The guide is intended as a handbook for individuals and institutions interested in learning about the growing opportunities to invest in women across a broad range of asset classes and regions.

Washington, DC, February 5, 2020  The US SIF Foundation today released, Investing to Advance Women: A Guide for Investors, a report that explores the business case for investors seeking to put their dollars to work to address the pressing issues that affect women. The report presents summary information on the socioeconomic status of women in the United States and globally, the challenges they face in achieving parity with men in the business and economic realm, and investment products that address these issues.
                                  
Investing to promote gender equality and advance the socioeconomic standing of women and girls is a leading priority of many sustainable investors. The US SIF Foundation found that at the start of 2018, institutional investors considered “gender lens” as a criterion in $868 billion of investment assets. This is more than double the assets identified in 2016. A growing body of evidence suggests that there is not only an equity argument for investing in women, but a business case as well.
 
The report is divided into five main sections:
 
  • The Changing Socioeconomic Status of Women
  • The Business Case for Advancing Women
  • Investment Strategies and Products that Support Women
  • Your Investments
  • In Your Community
 
“Women have made significant advances in the United States and around the world in recent decades, but they have not yet achieved parity with men on many socioeconomic measures,” said Meg Voorhes, Director of Research at US SIF. “The good news is that investing with an eye to improving gender equality and women's access to capital is the right thing to do as well as a winning investment strategy. This guide is intended as a handbook for individuals and institutions interested in learning about the growing opportunities to invest in women across a broad range of asset classes and regions.”

To download the report, click here.    

About US SIF
US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment is the leading voice advancing sustainable, responsible and impact investing across all asset classes. Its mission is to rapidly shift investment practices toward sustainability, focusing on long-term investment and the generation of positive social and environmental impacts. US SIF members include investment management and advisory firms, mutual fund companies, asset owners, research firms, financial planners and advisors, broker-dealers, community investing organizations and nonprofit associations. US SIF FORUM 2020, its 10th Annual Conference, will take place June 8-10, 2020 in Arlington, VA.
 
US SIF is supported in its work by the US SIF Foundation, a 501(C)(3) organization that undertakes educational, research and programmatic activities to advance the mission of US SIF, including offering trainings on the Fundamentals of Sustainable and Impact Investment.

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