Employment equity success amongst industrial analysts

The majority of industrial sector analysts employed by institutional stockbrokers and asset managers in South Africa are black, according to the latest research conducted by Jack Hammer Executive Headhunters.

Debbie Goodman-Bhyat, Managing Director of Jack Hammer Executive Headhunters, says that the research, which covered all institutional stockbrokers and asset managers in South Africa, revealed that 52% of analysts within the industrial sector are black, relative to 48% who are white.

"It is gratifying to note that in the relatively rarefied atmosphere of the stockbroking and asset management community, there are areas where employment equity practices have achieved positive results. The statistics clearly indicate that the pressure on companies to comply with the employment equity targets set out in the Financial Services Charter are, in specific areas, achieving the desired transformation," she said.

"The recent announcement by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) that it would withdraw all equity funds managed by external asset managers on its behalf and place these with black dominated companies is a sure indication of the importance of achieving these targets."

Goodman-Bhyat notes, however, that in other sectors, employment equity achievements have not been as impressive. In the resources sector, for example, employment equity analysts constitute only 37% of the total.

"Given the legacy of the mining industry, it is perhaps not surprising that a majority of analysts in the resources sector are white. Our research does however indicate that there has been an increase in employment equity numbers even within this sector, and we would certainly expect this trend to continue," she says.

Turning to gender issues, Goodman-Bhyat says that the percentage of female analysts employed by institutional stockbrokers and asset managers remains relatively low. The research shows that 76% of industrial analysts are male and 24% female. The equivalent statistics in the resources sector are 78% male versus 22% female.

"While transformation is clearly taking place in certain areas, it is apparent that institutional stockbroking and asset management remains largely a male preserve," she concludes.