Firms taking steps to support female employees’ life journey

Part of building an inclusive culture means fostering a workplace that meets female employees at whatever stage of life they’re at.

For some winners of Pensions & Investments’ 2024 Best Places to Work in Money Management program, this entails offering benefits that help their female employees as they go through different stages of their fertility journey.

Benefits providers that are focused on women’s health may offer reimbursements, services or educational resources for fertility treatments, menopause care, or hormone therapy. Also included may be access to specialists who can assist with family building — from coming up with a plan to conceive or adopt a child, to receiving parental coaching or emotional support.

Women aged 16 years and older represent about 47% of the U.S. civilian labor force, according to October data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The importance of offering benefits related to women’s health ties back to the question, “How does our investment in employees translate into better outcomes for our clients?” noted Marisa Bernstein, head of benefits at First Eagle Investments.

“Someone who is experiencing a change in their health — whether it be pregnancy, menopause or another type of serious health condition, could feel an impact to their work,” Bernstein added. “Helping employees any way that we can so they can be their best at what they do will have an immediate impact on the firm and our clients.”

Ranked No. 1 among winners with 500 to 999 employees, New York-headquartered First Eagle managed $138 billion in assets as of June 30.

Carrot Fertility and Maven Clinic are two of the platforms that are used — or will be used soon — by Best Places winners to offer women’s health benefits. Both can be accessed all day through digital means.

It is “critical” to support menopause and ongoing care, noted Linnet Coppa, director and global head of human resource service delivery at the StepStone Group.

The La Jolla, Calif.-headquartered firm will start offering Maven as part of its benefits package in 2025. Ranked No. 5 among winners with 500 to 999 employees, StepStone managed $169 billion in assets as of June 30.

“We have an older generation, so it’s just a testament to that we’re paying attention,” Coppa added. “We’re making sure that we’re covering it on the whole spectrum.”

Challenges to women’s health

Women spend 25% more time in “poor health” compared to men, according to a Jan. 17 report by the McKinsey Health Institute. In its definition of women’s health, the nonprofit arm of McKinsey & Co. includes sex-specific conditions such as menopause and endometriosis, as well as general health conditions.

Working women aged 20 to 64 in particular are affected by the health burdens, the report added. But the institute noted that by closing the health gap, the global economy could generate $1 trillion in annual growth by 2040. Some of the reasons McKinsey cited for the women’s health gap included limited health education, including menstrual knowledge, as well as issues with accessibility and affordability of healthcare.

“There are more macro-level challenges with family planning, and IVF (in vitro fertilization) is just one of the examples that continues to be very, very expensive — so we’ll hear from employees that wish coverage was higher,” said Rachel Trock, chief people officer at Polen Capital.

She noted that this issue isn’t specific to the investment firm, but since 2022, Polen has been able to offer as much as the firm can through Maven to support employees. The firm’s users rated the platform a 4.8 out of 5, Trock said.

Ranked No. 4 among BPTW winners with 100 to 499 employees, the Boca Raton, Fla.-headquartered investment firm managed $65 billion in assets as of June 30.

For some employers, offering platforms dedicated to bolstering women’s health is seen as a supplement or backup plan for other healthcare benefits.

At Polen Capital, Maven offers all employees a lifetime maximum benefit of $10,000, and Trock noted it is additive to what’s provided in medical coverage and offered in different geographies where the firm does business. For instance, in the U.S., medical provider Cigna covers the cost of breast pumps, so one would not have to use Maven for the service.

“A few of the things (Maven) offers are resources around preconception, fertility and emotional support for those going through IVF or egg freezing — which tends to be very taxing, physically on your body, emotionally and financially,” Trock said. Maven also offers personalized support for postpartum, in addition to adoption and surrogacy maps, she added.

For postpartum, the platform offers therapists who can assist with mental health and planning a return to work. Postpartum care in particular “is integral to support mothers who are suffering from depression, which … can have negative impacts on relationships between the mother, her partner, the baby and others,” said Dana Rapier, chief human resources officer at Jackson National Life Insurance Co.

Chicago-based affiliates of the insurer, Jackson National Asset Management and PPM America, will roll out Maven in 2025. Named to the Best Places to Work program for the first time this year, JNAM managed $255 billion in assets as of June 30. This was PPM America’s fifth year on the list.

Through Carrot Fertility, Newfront Retirement Services offers a $25,000 lifetime allowance that can go toward family forming services, said Head of People Paige Maisonet. Without having their identity disclosed on their employer’s bill, staff can also use the benefit for gender-affirmation care — such as treatments that aid gender transition — and reproductive care.

The San Francisco-headquartered firm has been named to the BPTW program three times. Ranked No. 2 among winners with 20 to 49 employees in 2024, Newfront managed more than $22 billion in assets as of June 30.

First Eagle offers covered members a $25,000 allowance in family planning benefits through its Aetna medical program, and employees don’t have to wait the traditional six to 12 months waiting period to access them, Bernstein noted.

Menopause benefits are handled separately through a plan with support resources, including medication, she added. Additionally, “if an employee is not feeling well or needs to take a day, our robust paid time-off policy can be used,” Bernstein said. “We have unlimited sick leave for when an employee is not feeling well, and a very generous vacation leave.”

Similarly, T. Rowe Price offers two separate platforms for family planning and menopause care to “meet our associates at every stage of their health and wellness journey,” noted Michelle Swanenburg, head of human resources.

Since 2020, the firm has offered support for preconception, fertility and family building — inclusive of concierge support, education and guidance — through Progyny. Since 2023, the Baltimore-headquartered firm has offered personalized menopause care through Gennev. Ranked No. 6 among BPTW winners with more than 1,000 employees, T. Rowe Price managed $1.6 trillion in assets as of June 30.

Raising menopause awareness

At the time when Trock’s son was born in 2011, “you certainly would have never heard people talking about menopause in the workplace. But we have a good number of women, employees’ significant others or dependents who are using Maven for menopause support,” she said.

During perimenopause, women experience a shift in their internal system where they have more hormonal imbalance, which can cause side effects including brain fog, hot flashes and mood swings, Newfront’s Maisonet noted.

“And these things can come across to an employer as this person isn’t showing up the way they used to,” she added. “They seem so tired. They seem disinterested. They can’t remember things — and really, a lot of times, if you’re going through that, then it’s a symptom of what you’ve been dealing with through your hormonal imbalance.”

In an August survey of 2,000 working women conducted by Carrot, 42% of Generation X women said they feel comfortable asking their employer to address menopause challenges, while 47% of millennial women said the same. Additionally, 55% of Gen Xers said they would change at least one aspect of their work arrangements to manage menopause symptoms, while 70% of millennials said the same.

“I think it’s important to just acknowledge that this is something that women go through and men don’t,” Maisonet said. “It’s different and impacts them in a way that can affect their day to day, and so much like we would treat mental health in the workplace. As we think about how to support employees through that — and not discriminate so forth — we should consider the same for women who are going through menopause.”

Through Maven, Diamond Hill provides access to educational material on menopause, said Jill Williams, director of human resources. At the Columbus, Ohio-headquartered manager, everyone is encouraged to review these resources “so you know what to expect if you’re a woman and what’s coming in the future, and how you can support your spouse,” she said.

It’s “just providing general awareness that menopause happens and it’s real,” Williams added. Named a Best Places winner two times, Diamond Hill managed $31.3 billion in AUM as of June 30.