Not just 'men in suits': Women lead way at Hawke's Bay-based finance company JUNO KiwiSaver

Victoria Harris is used to working in the male-dominated finance industry, but in her role at JUNO Kiwisaver women are at the helm. Photo / Supplied

A Hawke's Bay-based company is leading the way when it comes to women in the finance sector.

At JUNO KiwiSaver, which is based out of Hawke's Bay and Auckland, nine women make up 60 per cent of the team.

Nationally, 28 per cent of the finance sector is made up of women.

One of the JUNO women is Victoria Harris.

She is a portfolio manager, meaning she invests people's money.

She got into the sector because of her interest in how businesses work, and has been working in it for about eight years.

She said women thought about investment differently to men.

She recalled one situation at her old firm where a fast fashion company came onto the scene, and none of the men in her team could understand what it was or why people would invest in it.

"We invested and it did really well."

"It's like any kind of diversity in a team, whether it's religion, or age ... it's just bringing that other element means you look at an investment from all different angles."

She said it was pretty much unheard of to have female fund managers.

"Every meeting I got to, or every company I have worked at previously, is definitely male-dominated."

She said it was nice to work at a place like JUNO where the managers were conscious of the importance of diversity.

She said finance was a really exciting sector to work in, with constant learning opportunities and new challenges faced everyday, and encouraged more women to break into the sector.

JUNO KiwiSaver founder Mike Taylor says finance companies must consider gender diversity when building their investment teams.

"For too long, fund management has been the almost exclusive territory of men in suits."

He said JUNO Kiwisaver is different from what you might find in a bank.

"By design, we wanted a young, passionate team, and wanted a team which reflected what our brand was."

He said as a company they hoped to get more women into the finance sector.

"There's plenty of research to show a diversified group of individuals will make a better decision than an older, white male."

"Our JUNO investing magazine was founded and is edited by women, and we have two women managing our JUNO Balanced and Conservative Funds."

JUNO KiwiSaver Scheme launched its disruptive, low-fee model in August 2018. It charges zero fees for under18s and balances under $5,000, and low, flat fees charged in dollars rather than percentages for those over 18.

It is perhaps fitting the company is female dominated. The company is named after Juno Moneta, who was the Roman "protectoress of funds". Her last name is where the word "money" comes from.