The XX Edge: Unlocking Higher Returns and Lower Risk

by Patience Marime-Ball, Ruth Shaber

Overview

In The XX Edge, Patience Marime-Ball and Ruth Shaber envision a new paradigm of gender-focused investing where more women are placed in decision-making roles and able to optimize their skills across all capital markets—leading to higher returns for individual investors and greater economic growth.

There’s a simple but often overlooked investment strategy to earning higher returns—include women as financial decision-makers within your organization or team. That’s The XX Edge.

Seasoned executives and investors Patience Marime-Ball and Ruth Shaber demonstrate the new paradigm where women are at the center of investing as agents and actors—not just as beneficiaries.

If you manage investments—either your own or others'—you’ll want to understand the data and discover the financial power of The XX Edge:

• Gender-inclusive teams are 21% more likely to see outperformance in profitability relative to peers
• Female CFOs deliver a 6% increase in profits and an 8% stock performance bump compared to overall performance under male predecessors
• New companies with a female founder performed 63% better than those with all-male teams over an observed ten-year period
• Women-run hedge funds outperformed the average of larger hedge funds by a margin of 6% over a six-and-a-half-year period

You’ll discover the inherent gender differences between women and men and why these differences make women excellent financial decision makers and investment collaborators. Patience and Ruth unpack the evidence that proves this point across all asset classes.

The XX Edge shows that when women make financial decisions and apply their skills across all capital markets, it leads to higher returns for individual investors and greater economic growth—a true win-win for all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781637630938
Publisher:	Forefront Books
Publication date:	06/21/2022
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	551,146
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Patience Marime-Ball has more than two decades of investment experience across capital markets, including debt and equity financing, large scale infrastructure, distressed assets, as well as venture stage opportunities. Previously, Patience was Principal Investment Officer and Global Head of Banking on Women at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) where she developed the Banking on Women business; Patience co-developed the first-ever gender bond issued on the Uridashi market. She is the founder and CEO of Women of the World Endowment, an investment nonprofit focused on centralizing women as economic, environmental, and social changemakers while delivering market-rate, risk adjusted returns and impact at scale.

Patience holds a JD from the Pritzker School of Law and an MBA from Kellogg at Northwestern University.

Ruth Shaber, MD is the founder and president of the Tara Health Foundation, which promotes health, well-being, and opportunity for women and girls through innovative evidence-informed programs. She is also the co-founder and board chair of Rhia Ventures, a group of foundations and investors that collaborate to bring new types of capital and enterprise to the field of reproductive health in the United States. Ruth had a robust career as an Obstetrician and Gynecologist at Kaiser Permanente from 1990 to 2012.

Ruth was featured in Forbes 2020 Impact 50: Investors Seeking Profit—and Pushing for Change for her contributions to the field of impact investing.

Ruth holds an MD from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Yale University

Table of Contents

Introduction 9

Chapter 1 The Leadership Edge: More Money, More Impact 21

Chapter 2 The Performance Edge: Improving Returns, Managing Risk, and Delivering Impact 75

Chapter 3 Winning in the Next Economy: The XX Edge 111

Chapter 4 Material Risks of Inaction 135

Chapter 5 Investor Road Maps for Future Economies 157

Chapter 6 A Call to Action: Eight Imperatives for a Winning Portfolio 213

Epilogue 233

Acknowledgments 233

Notes 235

Index 281

Editorial Reviews

As the world is witnessing unprecedented technological change, the question of how innovation can serve more people is front and center. This book makes a strong case for how products and services are more inclusive and higher quality when women are inside innovation labs.

William Sonneborn

Gender-diverse teams outperform. The XX Edge details why and how having women in investment rooms is critical to building portfolios that drive doing well and doing good. Thank you for getting this important content into the world. People and planet are depending on us getting this right. We can shift our economies to ones that work for everyone. Clearly, women as investment decision makers are essential to achieving a sustainable world.

Kristin Hull

The XX Edge is a ‘get behind’ kind of book. Marime-Ball and Shaber draw on their extensive research and real-world experience to make a compelling argument for more gender inclusivity when it comes to business and the economy. It is a must-read for every leader who wants to deliver stronger long-term performance, positive and inclusive societal outcomes. It should be in the hands of every citizen who aspires to effect positive change.

James Manyika

The authors paint a powerfully persuasive picture of the results when women are at the centre of investing, as agents and actors. At last, we can understand the vast difference women can make to the effectiveness of the financial world in meeting the challenges ahead. This book is vital reading for anyone concerned about the future of finance.

Dr Scilla Elworthy

The book’s comprehensive coverage of the subject matter, from personal anecdotes to milestone events, from solid research to evidence in practice, sends a powerful and convincing message that XX factors are essential for humanity to achieve better social and economic outcomes and for investors to do well by doing good. I highly recommend this book.

JINGDONG HUA

This clear and compelling book shares robust research and real world examples which demonstrate that greater gender inclusion leads to a larger opportunity set, paving the way for higher returns on one’s capital. Investing is not a zero-sum game: female investment managers, asset owners, and corporate managers can dramatically increase our collective financial results.

BRENT KESSEL