And the trend has consequences beyond awkward “business” dinners and hiring practices that seem to discriminate against the genetically nonblessed. For one, women on the investment side of the industry are loath to be mistaken for marketers. “People always assume that I’m in marketing,” says the analyst, “because I have blond hair and maybe I spray-tan too much.”
But if the “marketing girls” are hired to lure investors with more than just their smarts, they are surely reaping the benefits. Though they usually don’t receive a cut of a fund’s profits, they are compensated well (marketing directors can make up to $2 million including bonus, while lower-level execs can make between $200,000 and $500,000). And, according to one investor who’s been wooed by hedge fund hotties, there’s another upside to the job: “It’s an easy access point to a rich husband,” he says. “These girls don’t talk to anyone worth less than $50 million.”
