The top quartile of gender diversity among companies performs 27 percent better in generating returns. When you factor in racial diversity, those top companies’ performance jumps to 35 percent. Meanwhile, the lowest quartile for gender diversity underperforms by 30 percent. Despite these facts, only 2 percent of capital is managed by women.
Those numbers come from VMG partners co-founder and managing director Kara Roell, speaking on a panel at BevNET Live Summer 2018 in New York City earlier this month. The panel, “What’s in HER Wallet: Women in Private Equity, Consumer Dynamics, and the Beverage Business,” explored the impact of the growing — but still undersized — percentage of female investors in food and beverage companies, how the industry is changing, and the vast amounts of work left to do to create a truly equal playing field for investors and executives alike.
In addition to Roell, the panel featured AccelFoods managing partner Jordan Gaspar, BIGR managing partner Carole Buyers, and Stripes Group partner Karen Kenworthy. The four discussed the challenges they faced as women rising to top level positions in equity during years where women were almost a non-presence, as well as the importance today of investing in female entrepreneurs in order to bring the beverage business forward.
“I love the fact that we’re at a point where this seems like a natural evolution for the industry, when we first started this wasn’t,” Gaspar said.
For the full discussion, click the video above.