Women are significantly underrepresented among the  investment decision-makers at private equity and venture  capital firms, as well as in the leadership of companies that  receive this investment capital. Women hold only 10 percent  of all senior positions in private equity and venture capital  firms globally, and women-led enterprises collected less  than 3 percent of global venture capital in 2017 (Preqin 2017;  Zarya, 2018). 

These firms provide a unique and sizable source of capital  for entrepreneurs in emerging markets. Although this  asset class represents a small portion of total global assets  under management, it provides entrepreneurs access to  funding when public equity markets and debt may be less  viable sources of capital. Private equity and venture capital  represent approximately US$3 trillion of more than US$75  trillion global assets under management.1 Nearly US$800  billion is dedicated to funds investing in emerging markets  (Preqin 2018a, 2018b).2 

Our research examines gender balance—defined as  leadership teams with at least 30 percent of men and  women—in private equity and venture capital funds and  the companies they invest in within emerging markets. Our  focus includes East Asia (including Southeast Asia), Europe  and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle  East and North Africa, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. We explore the relationship between gender balance and  fund performance, and the roles that general partners,  the vehicles investing private equity and venture capital  funds, and limited partners, the source of capital, can play  in alleviating gender gaps in investment funds and their  portfolio companies. 

We find that the gender gaps in the representation of  women as allocators and recipients of capital put access to  financing at risk for female entrepreneurs and may reduce  investment returns for funds. Given that private equity and  venture capital are still nascent in many emerging markets,  changes made now can have a significant impact in the  long run to move the industry toward gender balance.  This would impact General Partners and Limited Partners,  as well as entrepreneurs receiving capital to grow their  businesses. This report answers three questions: 

• How gender balanced are leadership teams of General  Partners, which allocate capital, and of portfolio  companies, which receive investments? 
• Are there benefits of moving leadership teams  toward gender balance within General Partners and  portfolio companies? 
• What can General Partners do to move toward gender  balance in their leadership teams and those of the  portfolio companies they invest in? 

To answer these questions, IFC, RockCreek, and  Oliver Wyman used gender data across thousands of  General Partners and portfolio companies operating in  emerging markets. We gathered performance and gender  diversity data for more than 700 funds and 500 portfolio  companies. We analyzed this database along with survey  responses from more than 500 General Partners and  Limited Partners and interviews with more than 50 industry  practitioners and academic experts.