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In A Man’s World, Women Rule!

There has been a lot of debate and discussion about whether federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor, who President Obama has nominated for the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice David Souter, should allow her ethnic background to influence her rulings. In other words, does race matter? Sotomayor, if approved by the Senate, would become the first Hispanic on the U.S. top court.

Along those same lines, does sex matter? Well some studies say it does report Katty Kay and Claire Shipman in Fixing the Economy? It’s Women’s Work (July 12).

Companies with more women in senior management roles make more money, according to accounting giant Ernst & Young which pulled together various studies that show “women can make the difference between economic success and failure in the developing world.” Companies with more female board directors outperformed those with fewer women according to a Catalyst research report.

Oh, and the National Council for Research on Women recently unveiled a report making the case for increasing the number of women managing investment funds. As the council pointed out, women-owned funds significantly outperform funds in general. According to the latest data from Hedge Fund Research Inc., from 2000 until the present, women-owned funds delivered an average annual return of 9.06 percent compared with 5.82 percent among a broader composite index of hedge funds.

• So what do you think? Are women better money managers? Send your comments to colorofmoney@washpost.com.