Stock Exchanges Ring The Bell For Gender Equality With Women In ETFs

To celebrate International Women’s Day 2020 (Sunday, March 8), a collaboration across 80 exchanges around the world plan to ring opening or closing bells for the sixth consecutive year.

The events – which start this Monday, March 2, and will last for two weeks – are a partnership between IFC, Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, UN Global Compact, UN Women, the World Federation of Exchanges and Women in ETFs, to raise awareness about the business case for women’s economic empowerment, and the opportunities for the private sector to advance gender equality and sustainable development.

In the U.S., the bell ringings will take place on March 2 at Nasdaq, March 5 at NYSE, and March 9 at CBOE and IEX.

ETF Trends CEO Tom Lydon spoke with Deborah Fuhr, co-founder of ETFGI, who notes, “We added Columbia and Luxembourg to the numbers of exchanges. Additionally, if there weren’t a few canceled bell-ringings because of the Coronavirus in Asia, there would be a new record.”

Fuhr continued, “The biggest priorities are enhancing benefits, which are open to all women and men. Additionally, there will be an increase in the Professional Development and Speakers Bureau, with at least one woman on every panel for the conference.”

A major factor for the growth of Women in ETFs, as Fuhr went on to say, is its university outreach program to build up member support.

“We have a goal to take our membership to over 6,000 [it’s currently at 5,669],” she said.

Click the video below to watch Christine Berg, CFA, Managing Director, ETF Client Coverage, MSCI and Deborah Fuhr, Managing Partner, Founder, ETFGI, discuss the growth of Women in ETFs. The video was filmed at the Inside ETFs conference in January 2020 in Hollywood, Florida.

I Am Generation Equality

This year, the UN Women’s theme for International Women’s Day is ‘I am Generation Equality: Realising Women’s Rights’. The theme marks the milestones that have been achieved such as the 25^th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted in 1995, to advance the empowerment of women and girls worldwide. In addition, 2020 also marks a five-year milestone towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals; the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security; and the 10th anniversary of UN Women’s establishment.

The leadership of Women in ETFs notes: “The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day – I am Generation Equality – celebrates the progress that has been made all around the world in advancing gender equality. The annual Bell Ringing events are the most global initiative that WE does each year offering a unique opportunity to welcome WE leadership teams, members and corporate sponsors to hear speakers presenting the business case for diversity and women’s economic empowerment. Members of Women in ETFs will be involved in bell ringing events at exchanges in the United States, Canada, EMEA and in Asia Pacific. There is further to go before we achieve gender equality, but today marks the start of a month of important awareness and work to continue to build towards that important goal.”

Women in ETFs is the first women’s group for the ETF industry. Founded in January 2014, WE is an organization that brings together over 5,600 members, including women and men, in chapters in major financial centers across the United States, Canada, EMEA and Asia Pacific to 1) CONNECT: Create opportunities for professional advancement of women by expanding connections among women and men in the ETF industry; 2) SUPPORT: Offer guidance for the current and next generation of women in ETFs and 3) INSPIRE: WE achieves this by organizing events at our chapters globally that support our goals of education, networking, philanthropy, and idea-sharing across the industry and beyond.

For more information about Women in ETFs, visit: www.womeninetfs.com.

80 Stock Exchanges to Ring the Bell for Gender Equality With Women In ETFs

I Am Generation Equality

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