Morgan Stanley links gender diversity to higher returns
A new report from Morgan Stanley suggests that companies benefit hiring more women and treating them equitably, achieving marginally higher (around 1% over three years) and less volatile return on equity compared to less gender-diverse competitors. The stocks of more diverse companies also outperformed those of less diverse rivals over time. The report set out a framework for assessing gender diversity at approximately 1.6k companies. Five key factors were considered: representation of women; the influence they possessed; parity of pay; corporate diversity policies and work-life balance initiatives. Companies that achieved some of the lowest scores in the US were Chipotle and beverage company Constellation Brands. High scoring companies included Amazon, Johnson & Johnson and Microsoft.

Thoughts on the Market Podcast

After the Debt Ceiling, What’s Next?

The next three things out of D.C. that could have an impact for markets are new restrictions on outbound investments to China; potential AI regulation; and the impact of the 2024 election on tax policy.