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There's a new statue standing in front of the bronze bull that stands in downtown Manhattan. That bull has symbolized the 'bullishness' of Wall Street and the bull sure has been running the last several years. Now, State Street has placed a bronze statue of a strong girl, defiantly facing the bull, just in advance of International Woman's Day which is Wednesday. When I saw the picture the very first thing I thought, this little girl is facing down the bull and stopping it in its tracks. Very strong, BUT if we go into a bear market she's going to get the blame.

(Bill Taylor/CEO)

"The world's third-largest asset manager installed a bronze statue of a defiant girl in front of Wall Street's iconic charging bull statue on Tuesday morning as part of its new campaign to pressure companies to add more women to their boards.

State Street Global Advisors, a nearly $2.5 trillion investor and unit within State Street Corp., is rolling out the campaign ahead of International Women's Day on Wednesday.

The money manager said it would vote against boards if a company failed to take steps to increase its number of members who are women. State Street plans to send a letter to 3,500 companies on Tuesday asking the companies to act.

State Street is a huge player in the index fund world, managing about 90% of its assets in passive funds, which are often investing in companies held in the Russell 3000 and FTSE.

The money manager has cited gender diversity as a way to improve company performance and increase shareholder value. The lack of women on boards has long been a problem. Beyond pipeline issues, some boards see no reason to increase their gender diversity, data shows.

"There has been a lot of discussion on this topic, but the needle hasn't moved materially," Lori Heinel, State Street's deputy global chief investment officer, told Business Insider after the statue's installment...

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