Pioneers of Gender Lens Investing Honored with Prestigious Investing Award
Chicago, June 26th - The trailblazers of gender lens investing - Joy Anderson, the late Suzanne Biegel, and Jackie VanderBrug - have received the esteemed Joan Bavaria Award for their groundbreaking contributions to sustainable investing.
The Joan Bavaria Award, presented by Trillium Asset Management and US SIF, honors leaders who have profoundly influenced capital markets by promoting a financial system that integrates economic, social, and environmental considerations. This year, the award recognizes the significant materiality, growth and impact of gender lens investing on the finance industry.
“Suzanne, Jackie, and Joy exemplify Joan Bavaria’s legacy through their collaboration and coalition-building efforts and their commitment to equality. Their work has had a transformative impact on the Socially Responsible Investment landscape.”
“When Suzanne, Joy, and I first met sixteen years ago, only five gender lens strategies existed in the public markets, and a handful in the private markets,” said Jackie VanderBrug, Head of Sustainability Strategy for Putnam investments and co-Trustee of Heading for Change, Biegel’s legacy foundation, which is working to catalyze capital at the nexus of climate and gender. “Now it is a thriving multi billion dollar industry, with investment options across every theme, geography, and asset class.”
Joy Anderson, President and Founder of Criterion Institute and a member of Heading for Change’s Global Advisory Circle, shared her insights on the field’s development: “We’ve seen gender lens investing become more integrated and diverse, with a deeper examination of power dynamics. There’s more work ahead - especially in shifting power, privilege and bias in financial structures and systems - but we’re proud of what we have achieved.”
The Joan Bavaria Award commemorates Joan Bavaria, a pioneer in sustainable investing who co-founded US SIF and Trillium Asset Management, one of the first firms dedicated to sustainable and responsible investing.
“Suzanne, Jackie, and Joy exemplify Joan Bavaria’s legacy through their collaboration and coalition-building efforts and their commitment to equality,” said Matthew Patsky, CEO of Trillium Asset Management. “Their work has had a transformative impact on the Socially Responsible Investment landscape.”
Suzanne Biegel passed away in September 2023 after navigating metastatic lung cancer for more than two years.
“Suzanne left an indelible mark on gender lens investing,” said Sana Kapadia, Chief Catalyst at Heading for Change. "She was a mentor and friend to many, including myself, and this award is a testament to her enduring legacy. In particular, Suzanne’s pioneering work on climate and gender finance was crucial in advancing the field, and at Heading for Change, we continue to lead the way in defining best practices in climate and gender investing.”
Gender Lens Investing in Numbers
Over $33.6 billion in gender lens investments have been mobilized under the 2X Challenge as of 2024.
As of June 2023, there were at least 175 private market gender lens funds, with a market size of $7.9 billion. 40% of these funds also focus on climate-related sectors such as agriculture, renewable energy, climate technology, and the circular economy.
There are now 21 publicly traded global gender lens equity funds and 21 regional funds, totalling $4.6 billion in AUM as of March 31, 2024.
Gender lens fixed income investments reached $15.8 billion in AUM as of March 2024.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion funds (combining gender with other investment lenses such as race or ethnicity) totaled $2.0 billion in AUM as of March 2024.
Research by IFC found that private equity and venture capital funds with gender-balanced senior investment teams generated 10% to 20% higher returns.
Empowering women to participate equally in transforming the global economy could add $28 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP)
Companies with improved gender diversity on boards are more likely to reduce energy consumption by 60%, GHG emissions by 39%, and water use by 46%.
About the Winners of the 2024 Joan Bavaria Award
Gender lens investing emerged as a defined field in the 2000s and 2010s and was promoted by a group of investors and field builders - including Joy Anderson of Criterion Institute, Suzanne Biegel of Women Effect, and later GenderSmart, and Jackie VanderBrug, co-author of the book Gender Lens Investing.
Suzanne Biegel (1963-2023) founded the consultancy Catalyst at Large and was co-founder of the pioneering gender lens field building initiatives Women Effect and GenderSmart (now 2X Global). During the decades before her death in 2023, she spent her career collaborating with investors, working to help them move their capital in a gender-smart way. Her legacy foundation, Heading for Change, is working to catalyze capital at the nexus of climate and gender, with the belief that catalyzing gender-smart capital is key to addressing the climate crisis.
Joy Anderson has spent the last two decades helping investors, social change organizations and governments to think differently about finance. As Founder and President of Criterion Institute, she has shaped the field of gender lens investing, pioneered approaches to integrating gender-based violence data into political risk methodologies, and authored numerous influential reports on using finance as a tool for social change.
Jackie S. VanderBrug is Head of Sustainability Strategy at Putnam Investments. She is responsible for leading Putnam’s ESG-focused business functions, including Stewardship, Engagement, Partnerships, and ESG Strategy and Integration. She is co-author of Gender Lens Investing: Uncovering Opportunities for Growth, Returns, and Impact.