> My counter argument is that you must break the cycle somehow

If you for some reason want more female fund managers, clearly the better way is to improve the pipeline, encourage women to study business. Forcing companies to hire people they didn't want to hire is obviously a very bad idea.

More importantly, why is the number of female fund managers relevant?

> If you don't take a hit now and put more women on the boards

"Dear Alice, we are happy to tell you that XYZ Asset Management has decided to take the hit and hire you for the position as fund manager, congratulations!"