Team gender diversity and investment decision-making behavior

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the gender composition of a fund management team influences investment decision-making behavior. Specifically, we focus on how portfolio choice is affected by team risk aversion and loss aversion. Design/methodology/approach – Using an experimental economics approach, the paper examines the relationship between gender diversity and investment decisions. Teams of four persons each were given the task of making investment portfolio management decisions. Findings – The paper finds that team composition does influence financial decisions with regard to the assessment of risk and loss. The paper finds evidence that a male presence increases the probability of selecting a higher risk investment. However, the all male teams are not the most risk seeking. Moreover, having a male presence can increase loss aversion. Originality/value – In the context of workforce composition, these results could have important implications for team investment decisions driven by the assessment of risk and return tradeoffs. To curb excessive risk taking and loss aversion, the findings would suggest that understanding the role of gender diversity in risk management would be useful in effecting change.