Is the DE&I needle moving quickly enough to satisfy investors?
Investors are increasingly demanding their financial services providers embrace both the challenge and the opportunity brought by truly diverse teams, but progress is slow. CAMRADATA’s latest whitepaper, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) explores the current issues and how to drive change.
The whitepaper includes insights from firms including Aegon Asset Management, Capital Group, The Diversity Project, Hymans Robertson, Progress Together, Punter Southall Aspire, Redington and WTW, who all attended a roundtable recently hosted by CAMRADATA.
The report highlights that diversity is, in some quarters, the new “sustainability” with many sectors of financial services vocalising support for a wide range of personal differences within their workforces.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) has been the key driver behind growing investor interest in the ‘social’ aspect, but the lack of data and metrics can make it particularly hard for companies to measure. This is a major challenge for investors looking at portfolios through an ESG lens.
One of the speakers at the roundtable pointed that only around a third of investment strategies currently have Net Zero targets[i], so financial services still have a way to go on ‘E’ issues alone, let alone ‘S’.
CAMRADATA’s whitepaper also explores the current trends in terms of data; investor expectations and allyship, plus commonly overlooked areas when it comes to DE&I – neurodiversity; socio-economic background and age. It also focuses on where progress has been made and the barriers to achieving a more consistent approach.
Natasha Silva, Managing Director, Client Relations, CAMRADATA said, “From International Women’s Day to Pride Week and Black History Month, some of the biggest names in asset management now spend thousands outwardly marketing how they understand the wide range of experiences brought into their offices each day.
“But understanding is only one of the first steps towards inclusion, without which, support for diversity risks becoming merely a slogan. Initiatives to not only recognise, but also attract, embed and support a wide range of candidates for roles across the matrix of a company are needed for operational change to truly occur.
“Also, outside traditional diversity genres, there are plenty more groups needing elevation, who are routinely excluded from careers in financial services. All this is happening at a time when the sector needs to look in new places for talent – and clients – with returns harder to come by and margins being squeezed.
“Investors and asset managers alike won’t want to miss our latest whitepaper if they want to stay abreast of the current DE&I debate in the sector and lead on change.”
To read the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion whitepaper, please click here.
For more information on CAMRADATA visit www.camradata.com.
[i] https://www.accenture.com/content/dam/accenture/final/capabilities/strategy-and-consulting/strategy/document/Accenture-Net-Zero-By-2050-Global-Report-2022.pdf
