Diversity and inclusion have become a priority for institutional investors in the UK, two thirds of which say their firms are excluding companies from their investment portfolios if they fail to meet certain thresholds.
Neuberger Berman plans to ramp up its programme of disclosing proxy votes ahead of shareholder meetings next year, a practice that it hopes will encourage an open dialogue with its companies and clients.
The industry network 100 Women in Finance is putting female founders and asset managers in front of the world’s largest allocators in its virtual Global FundWomen Week in November, which it says is the largest ever event of its kind.
FORTUNE and Refinitiv have formed a new partnership that aims to make corporate diversity disclosure the new standard of doing business.
Black Women in Asset Management (BWAM) has written an open letter to the asset management community calling on investment firms to promote racial equity through their investing activities.
Research carried out by Redington has found that less than half (47 per cent) of asset managers assess gender diversity when researching potential investments – despite recognising its importance within their own firms.
Investment managers are calling for greater transparency on ethnic diversity on boards as almost three-quarters of FTSE 100 companies failed to report the ethnic make-up of their boards at their AGMs.
A mentoring programme has been launched to address the “striking absence” of senior Black professionals at all levels in investment management, by bringing together experienced Black managers with chief executives and chief investment officers from across the industry.
The asset management industry has reached a critical period for nurturing gender diversity, industry experts have advised, as investment firms choose how they will adapt to new challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Many of the UK’s largest fund managers are backing an initiative to offer paid internships to Black university students next year, as the investment industry grapples with a chronic lack of racial diversity among its employees.