A public art piece in the Big Apple continues to pay publicity dividends for a giant, Beantown asset manager, more than a year after it was installed on an initially temporary basis. Fundster marketers, take note!

Yesterday Cyrus Taraporevala, president and CEO of Boston-based State Street Global Advisors (SSgA [profile], and Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, revealed that the "Fearless Girl" statue in downtown Manhattan will be moving by the end of the year. But fear not, fans of the SSgA-commissioned statue: the 50-inch, 250-pound bronze statue will stay in the Financial District, moving just a few blocks, from its current home opposite the "Charging Bull" statute in Bowling Green Park on Broadway, to in front the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). So instead of staring down the embodiment of the bull market, she'll be staring down the most famous building on Wall Street. Though the bull reportedly might follow her to the NYSE.

The statue was made by Kristen Visbal and commissioned by SSgA, then installed on March 7, 2017, which coincided with both the one-year anniversary of the SPDR SSgA Gender Diversity Index ETF (SHE) and the eve of International Women's Day. This March, on the anniversary of the statute's installation, SSgA trumpeted the success of their campaign to nudge publicly traded companies into adding women to their boards.

The statute continues to capture the attention of tourists and journalists alike, and not just financial or trade reporters. Indeed, here's a list of some of the publications that chimed in to cover the statue's impending move: the Associated Press, the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Globe, CNBC, DealBreaker, the Hill, the New York Daily News, the New York Times, NPR, Reuters, TheStreet, Time, and the Wall Street Journal.

NYC deputy mayor Alicia Glen tells the Daily News that city hall was looking for a more pedestrian-friendly, downtown, still-symbolic location.

"We are proud to be home to the Fearless Girl. She is a potent symbol of the need for change at the highest levels of corporate America — and she will become a durable part of our city's civic life," de Blasio states. "This move to a new location will ensure that her message and impact will continue to be heard, as well as improve access for visitors. We're grateful to State Street for their partnership in keeping the Fearless Girl here in NYC."

"We thank Mayor Bill de Blasio and the millions of people from New York City and all over the world who have enthusiastically embraced Fearless Girl and her powerful message," Taraporevala states. "Since Fearless Girl's placement, more than 150 companies have added a female director to their boards. Our hope is that by moving her closer to the NYSE she will encourage more companies to action and, more broadly, that she will continue to inspire people from all walks of life on the issue of gender diversity."

And the NYSE is officially welcome the statute with open arms.

"We eagerly await the arrival of Fearless Girl to her fitting new home, standing her ground and training her unblinking eyes on our engine of progress and free enterprise," states Thomas Farley, president of the NYSE. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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