Eurazeo has signed the gender diversity charter drawn up by the association France Invest by which private equity firms commit to achieving gender-balanced representation within their firms and portfolio companies.
Eurazeo has signed the gender diversity charter drawn up by the association France Invest by which private equity firms commit to achieving gender-balanced representation within their firms and portfolio companies.Faced with the stark lack of gender balance in the Private Equity sector, Eurazeo has already taken steps to encourage diversity and increase the proportion of women in its leadership team so as to drive change throughout the Group and set an example.
Eurazeo is already involved in several initiatives promoting gender diversity. For over ten years now, Eurazeo has actively supported the Rising Talents programme, set up by the Women’s Forum for Economy and Society, as well as the French committee of ‘Level 20’, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving gender diversity in the European private equity industry, and the SISTA Movement, which seeks to facilitate access to funding for female entrepreneurs.
In addition to these commitments, Eurazeo’s ambition to achieve genuine gender balance can already be seen in the Group’s figures, which are significantly above the industry average: women represent 47 per cent of employees (compared with 28 per cent in the industry[1]) and nearly 24 per cent of them hold managerial positions. Women account for 28 per cent of Eurazeo’s investment teams, compared with just 14 per cent in the profession on average, and the Group aims to fill 50 per cent of junior positions in its investment teams with female recruits to prepare for the future.
Eurazeo has also put in place a conscious diversity policy in its portfolio companies, with a target of reaching at least 40 per cent of women on the boards of its portfolio companies.
Virginie Morgon, Chairwoman of the Eurazeo Executive Board, says: “I personally, and Eurazeo as a Group, have been fighting to improve diversity for many years now. This fight is important to me as it reflects my vision of what a company should be, my career and my experience. Promoting women in business is essential, not only to for reasons of equality, but also because it is a guarantee of success. I strongly believe that management teams perform better when they are comprised of more diverse talent and are genuinely gender balanced. We now need to take this fight to the rest of the industry and I am delighted that France Invest has taken on the challenge and is driving French firms forward.”
