Diversity from an Investor’s Perspective 2019

New Financial, in collaboration with the PLSA, has recently released its report - Diversity from an Investor’s Perspective 2019.  The report looks at why diversity is important to asset owners and provides suggestions on how to approach diversity and inclusion.  The report captures how thinking and actions have progressed since the launch of the last report in November 2017 and highlights a number of key PLSA initiatives to boost diversity across the industry. This includes our Breaking the Mirror Image campaign, which highlighted the need for trustee board diversity and succession planning.

Highlights from the New Financial report include:

• The role of thought leaders: Progressive asset owners globally are doing more than ever to promote diversity. They are increasingly vocal, transparent and confident on the subject of diversity and how it benefits the whole investment ecosystem.
• Motivations for tackling diversity: Asset owners' understanding of why diversity is important to them is improving and becoming more nuanced, with improved decision-making as the top reason given for acting on diversity.
• Inclusion and culture: For those addressing diversity internally within the investment function, the discussion is beginning to encompass inclusion and cultural change more broadly.
• Trustee diversity: Awareness of the need for and benefits of trustee diversity is growing and slowly turning into action, with a particular focus on encouraging more young people onto trustee boards.
• Gender takes priority: Diversity efforts are largely concentrated on boosting female representation, as this is where both qualitative and quantitative data is best established. Shareholder engagement activity is focused on board diversity, with some extending their discussions to the wider workforce and diversity strands other than gender.

Please contact Caroline Escott if you have any questions about the New Financial report or our broader diversity work.