Diversity, whether ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic, disability or other forms, has been a key theme of government policy for several years. Whilst there has been some progress, many pension fund trustee boards and the top levels of executive teams lack diversity.
As the voice of our members with government, Parliament and regulators, the PLSA aims to boost diversity (in its broadest sense) not only throughout the pensions industry but also by encouraging pension schemes to use their influence to draw good diversity practices up through the investment chain with their service providers.
Some of the ways in which we work to support diversity are:
- Publishing the first ever practical, step-by-step guidance on diversity and inclusion aimed specifically at trustee boards.
- Support for the NextGen campaign which seeks to promote and encourage the next generation of professionals within the pensions sector
- Signing up to HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter
- Our Breaking the Mirror Image campaign – launched in 2017 to support, lead and encourage a more diverse workplace pensions industry
- Our work with The Diversity Project – a cross-company initiative championing a more inclusive culture within the savings and investment profession
- Diversity from an Investor’s Perspective – a report from think tank New Financial in collaboration with the PLSA, which looks at how and why pension schemes are addressing diversity and inclusion
- Our support for the Women in Pensions Awards – which are about celebrating and recognising the achievements of women in a sector where they are currently under-represented.