(Pictured: Scarlett Dorney and Daphne van der Oord flank Marcus Christoe) 

Women in ETFs (WE), an international association formed last year in the US, has started an Asia Pacific chapter with an active Australian group. The group held its first Australian event last month and rang the bell to open trading on the ASX on International Women’s Day on March 6.

The two chapter leaders, Charlene Low of MSCI and Yvonne Ng of Commerzbank, are based in Hong Kong. But there are two Australian liaisons, who organized last month’s events. They are Daphne van der Oord of S&P DJI and Scarlett Dorney of MSCI.

Marcus Christoe, head of funds and investment products at the ASX, spoke at the International Women’s Day event with van der Oord and Dorney (pictured) to a small gathering of both men and women.

They also organized a forum in Sydney last month at which Deborah Fuhr, the managing partner of ETFGI LLP in the US and a founding organiser of WE spoke.

The group aims to bring together women in the ETF sector and specifically “to further the careers of women today by leveraging our collective skill and ambition”, according to its website.  It also aims to support women in the industry and provide forums for idea sharing.

In Australia, Women in Super, started by the late Mavis Robertson, has been particularly successful both as a networking organisation and fund raiser for cancer research. Women in Banking & Finance is also well established. WE is a further signal of the growing size and importance of the ETF market.