Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • LOGIN
  • Subscribe
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Consultants
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • ETFs
    • Face to Face
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Partner Content
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Regulation
    • SECURE 2.0
    • Special Reports
    • Washington
    • White Papers
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • WPS Innovation Awards
    • Influential Women in Institutional Investing 2023
    • Eddy Awards
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    • ESG Investing | Industry Brief
    • Innovation in ESG Investing
    • 2023 ESG Investing Conference
    • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Divestment Database
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • The Plan Sponsor's Guide to Retirement Income
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • DC Plan Design: Improving Participant Outcomes
    • 2023 Defined Contribution East Conference
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Research Center
    • The P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. COURTS
May 10, 2018 01:00 AM

Tocqueville analyst claims gender bias cost her a promotion

Bloomberg
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Bloomberg

    A Tocqueville Asset Management investment analyst sued the firm claiming she was denied a promotion because of her gender and threatened with termination when she complained.

    Coille Van Alphen said she was told by a senior manager that she had "hit the glass ceiling," that the money management firm was a "boys' club," and that she should "move back to Canada" where raising children would be easier after she tried to win a job as a portfolio manager. Ms. Van Alphen, a single mother, alleged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court that she was then threatened and moved to another team.

    The firm, which manages about $12 billion, takes its name from Alexis de Tocqueville, the 19th century French diplomat, a student of American society. Ms. Van Alphen noted in her complaint that Mr. de Tocqueville himself had been hostile to gender equality, stating that by "attempting to make one sex equal to the other, both are degraded."

    "The company, it seems, picked a 19th-century namesake that truly mirrors its own outdated values," she said.

    The complaint includes a photo lineup of the firm's four-person executive team, 38 portfolio managers and 19 research analysts. Of the group, two are women: Ms. Van Alphen and one portfolio manager. Almost all of the rest are white men.

    Tocqueville denied the discrimination claims.

    "Tocqueville is an equal opportunity employer," an outside spokesman for the firm, Tucker Hewes, said in a statement. "This lawsuit and the damages it seeks will be found to be without foundation."

    Ms. Van Alphen said in 2011 she joined the company's precious metals investment team, where she researched and selected "numerous investments that have since generated substantial revenues." In 2016, however, her career stalled when she made a pitch to start her own fund, after getting a soft commitment of $5 million in investments, she claimed. A male employee with similar experience was promoted instead, she said.

    Although she didn't allege she was sexually harassed, Ms. Van Alphen said her case is "another example of a woman showing courage to stand up for herself in the face of sexist men who think they can treat women like second-class citizens."

    During the past year, almost every industry has been forced to reckon with sexual harassment and gender discrimination, following revelations of sexual misconduct by producer Harvey Weinstein and other powerful men.

    Related Articles
    TCW says former managing director suing firm was fired for compliance violations
    Female PIMCO executive sues firm over age, sex discrimination
    A long way to go in manager diversity
    Top IDG Capital investment executive fired in rare Chinese #MeToo flare-up
    Goldman fires a salesman charged twice with attacking a woman
    Recommended for You
    Marsh_McLennan_1550_i.jpg
    Judge tosses 401(k) suit against Marsh & McLennan over BlackRock TDFs
    grocery store aisle full 1550_i.jpg
    Southeastern Grocers sued over 401(k) plan fees
    ONLINE_190109864_AR_0_SLHVICTSVYPI.jpg
    NextEra Energy hit with lawsuit over 401(k) fees
    DC Plan Design: Improving Participant Outcomes
    Sponsored Content: DC Plan Design: Improving Participant Outcomes
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    Exploring the Commercial Application of Artificial Intelligence
    Conflict Minerals: The human cost of our electronics
    Research for Institutional Money Management
    Private real estate entry points emerging amid selloff
    2023 Hot Topics in Retirement and Financial Wellbeing
    Bonds: Shaken, but Not Stirred
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    December 12, 2022 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Custom Content
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Consultants
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • ETFs
      • Face to Face
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Partner Content
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Regulation
      • SECURE 2.0
      • Special Reports
      • Washington
      • White Papers
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • WPS Innovation Awards
      • Influential Women in Institutional Investing 2023
      • Eddy Awards
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
      • ESG Investing | Industry Brief
      • Innovation in ESG Investing
      • 2023 ESG Investing Conference
      • ESG Rated ETFs
      • Divestment Database
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • The Plan Sponsor's Guide to Retirement Income
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • DC Plan Design: Improving Participant Outcomes
      • 2023 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Research Center
      • The P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars