The proportion of female UK-based investment professionals hit 27 percent last year, up from 24 percent a year earlier, according to the latest diversity report from Level 20 and the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.
The figure, published in the Diversity in UK Private Equity and Venture Capital 2025 Report, places the UK third in Europe in terms of gender diversity, behind France and Sweden, whose investment professionals are 31 percent and 28 percent female, respectively.
The report also found that women hold 15 percent of senior investment roles across private equity and venture capital in the UK, up from 12 percent in 2023. In this regard, the UK is fifth in Europe, with Ireland leading the way at 21 percent.
For the first time, the Diversity in UK Private Equity report also measures the percentage of women sitting on investment committees and acting as board members. These figures are lower, at 16 percent and 19 percent, respectively.
“I’m encouraged by the progress the industry is making, without any danger of us thinking this is a problem that has been cracked,” Michael Moore, chief executive of the BVCA, told affiliate title Private Equity International. While improvements are clear in almost all areas, the fact that women represent only a quarter of the investment workforce should not be ignored, he added.
To see improved figures in the years to come, UK firms need to continue working to improve their internal culture, said Gurpreet Manku, chief executive of Level 20. This includes advocating for women when shaping their careers, encouraging transparency around what it will take to progress to the next level and promoting inclusive cultures that support families and working parents.
“When we talk about internal culture, we’re talking about everyone. We’re not just focusing on women,” Manku told PEI. “To really move the needle, we want to see more men taking paternity leave: while firms have worked really hard on average to increase the amount of enhanced maternity leave they give and to slowly top up and start to increase paternity leave, what really matters is how much people are actually taking and how to support parents working in an industry which is intense, which does have long working hours.”
Private equity continues to fall behind venture capital in terms of gender diversity. VC records better female representation at all levels of seniority: 23 percent of senior roles are held by women in VC firms against PE’s 13 percent; at the mid-level, women hold 36 percent of positions compared with PE’s 26 percent; and at the junior level, 40 percent of roles are held by women compared with PE’s 38 percent. According to Manku, this disparity stems from the relative youth of VC compared with PE.
“[VC firms are] fairly new, so they’re starting out in an environment where [diversity] mattered more,” she said. “There is [also] a stronger interest in sustainability and climate in their strategies and investments, and I think that does tend to attract more female talent.”
The fact that diversity within European private equity firms is increasing – albeit slowly – is particularly significant as the US battles President Donald Trump’s so-called “war on woke”. In January, Trump signed an executive order prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the federal level. This is already having an impact on US-based private equity firms and investors, with lawyers predicting a “massive wave” of litigation as firms grapple with new requirements, affiliate title Responsible Investor reported. The Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System, for one, is already deliberating whether to rename its biannual DE&I report to avoid the new administration’s ire.
While Level 20’s mission focuses exclusively on Europe, major events in North America will inevitably have an impact on its 6,500-plus members.
If the US – the world’s largest private equity market – takes a step back from diversity initiatives, should it stand to reason that the rest of the world will eventually follow? Moore doesn’t think so. “Fundamentally, the industry will focus on what matters to investors,” he said. “Politics comes and goes, but the fundamentals of the way society is changing are pretty clear. As an industry, I see no sense that it wants to go backwards.”
He added that while the broader issue of ESG is “so under threat in certain parts of the world,” he has no concerns that the UK will catch the same way of thinking. “Certainly, here in London, people are concerned about somebody questioning the importance of this agenda to our industry and the commitment to do more… In the UK, there’s a pretty strong commitment.”
Manku agreed, noting that while Level 20’s focus will remain on supporting women who work in Europe, “what I can say is that this industry has been looking at this topic for a very long time, and it approaches things in a thoughtful way.”
The proportion of female UK-based investment professionals hit 27 percent last year, up from 24 percent a year earlier, according to the latest diversity report from Level 20 and the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.
The figure, published in the Diversity in UK Private Equity and Venture Capital 2025 Report, places the UK third in Europe in terms of gender diversity, behind France and Sweden, whose investment professionals are 31 percent and 28 percent female, respectively.
The report also found that women hold 15 percent of senior investment roles across private equity and venture capital in the UK, up from 12 percent in 2023. In this regard, the UK is fifth in Europe, with Ireland leading the way at 21 percent.
For the first time, the Diversity in UK Private Equity report also measures the percentage of women sitting on investment committees and acting as board members. These figures are lower, at 16 percent and 19 percent, respectively.
“I’m encouraged by the progress the industry is making, without any danger of us thinking this is a problem that has been cracked,” Michael Moore, chief executive of the BVCA, told affiliate title Private Equity International. While improvements are clear in almost all areas, the fact that women represent only a quarter of the investment workforce should not be ignored, he added.
To see improved figures in the years to come, UK firms need to continue working to improve their internal culture, said Gurpreet Manku, chief executive of Level 20. This includes advocating for women when shaping their careers, encouraging transparency around what it will take to progress to the next level and promoting inclusive cultures that support families and working parents.
“When we talk about internal culture, we’re talking about everyone. We’re not just focusing on women,” Manku told PEI. “To really move the needle, we want to see more men taking paternity leave: while firms have worked really hard on average to increase the amount of enhanced maternity leave they give and to slowly top up and start to increase paternity leave, what really matters is how much people are actually taking and how to support parents working in an industry which is intense, which does have long working hours.”
Private equity continues to fall behind venture capital in terms of gender diversity. VC records better female representation at all levels of seniority: 23 percent of senior roles are held by women in VC firms against PE’s 13 percent; at the mid-level, women hold 36 percent of positions compared with PE’s 26 percent; and at the junior level, 40 percent of roles are held by women compared with PE’s 38 percent. According to Manku, this disparity stems from the relative youth of VC compared with PE.
“[VC firms are] fairly new, so they’re starting out in an environment where [diversity] mattered more,” she said. “There is [also] a stronger interest in sustainability and climate in their strategies and investments, and I think that does tend to attract more female talent.”
The fact that diversity within European private equity firms is increasing – albeit slowly – is particularly significant as the US battles President Donald Trump’s so-called “war on woke”. In January, Trump signed an executive order prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the federal level. This is already having an impact on US-based private equity firms and investors, with lawyers predicting a “massive wave” of litigation as firms grapple with new requirements, affiliate title Responsible Investor reported. The Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System, for one, is already deliberating whether to rename its biannual DE&I report to avoid the new administration’s ire.
While Level 20’s mission focuses exclusively on Europe, major events in North America will inevitably have an impact on its 6,500-plus members.
If the US – the world’s largest private equity market – takes a step back from diversity initiatives, should it stand to reason that the rest of the world will eventually follow? Moore doesn’t think so. “Fundamentally, the industry will focus on what matters to investors,” he said. “Politics comes and goes, but the fundamentals of the way society is changing are pretty clear. As an industry, I see no sense that it wants to go backwards.”
He added that while the broader issue of ESG is “so under threat in certain parts of the world,” he has no concerns that the UK will catch the same way of thinking. “Certainly, here in London, people are concerned about somebody questioning the importance of this agenda to our industry and the commitment to do more… In the UK, there’s a pretty strong commitment.”
Manku agreed, noting that while Level 20’s focus will remain on supporting women who work in Europe, “what I can say is that this industry has been looking at this topic for a very long time, and it approaches things in a thoughtful way.”
