Commodity Traders Say More Needs to Be Done to Promote Women – by Andy Hoffman and Mark Burton (Bloomberg News – March 27, 2019)

https://www.bloombergquint.com/

(Bloomberg) — More needs to be done to make the commodities industry welcoming to young women, who are less willing to put up with the sexist culture their older peers endured, female executives from trading houses, banks and mining companies said.

“It isn’t the Wolf of Wall Street, but it is a tough environment,” Wendy Moss, a veteran trader at Trafigura Group, said at the FT Global Commodities Summit in Lausanne. “If you are prepared for that, it can be a very rewarding career.”
Women account for less than 5 percent of senior management at top trading houses, Bloomberg reported last year, and companies are under pressure to improve gender parity.

The industry has taken fire for decisions by firms like Gerald Metals to hold industry parties at the Playboy Club in London, a casino known for women wearing low-cut, black satin leotards and fluffy tails serving drinks and dancing with guests.

Gerald said last year it wouldn’t use the club as a venue for this year’s LME Week party, but Group Chief Operating Officer Pat Crepeault on Wednesday defended past choices to use the nightclub because of its convenient location in the city’s tony Mayfair neighborhood.

For the rest of this article: https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/commodity-traders-say-more-needs-to-be-done-to-promote-women#gs.2tiivh