Diversity in Investment: Enabling performance by unleashing talent in global capital markets through diversity
From the Investor Leadership Network: Committed to tracking progress and making an impact on sectors with an underrepresentation of diverse talent, the Diversity in Investment initiative aims to open opportunities for diverse talent in finance and investment worldwide and to increase the presence of diverse talent in investment and management roles in the financial industry.
Beyond Intention: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Require Action
How PNC integrated DEI factors into their practices.
Adasina Social Capital Installment 6: Dismantling Systemic Barriers for Black Asset Managers
Part of a series of articles, in this installment, Rachel J. Robasciotti, Founder and CEO of Adasina Social Capital identifies systemic problems in due diligence process and proposes solutions.
Moving from Intention to Impact: Funding Racial Equity to Win
From Policy Link: Moving from Intention to Impact: Funding Racial Equity to Win, a joint PolicyLink-Bridgespan study analyzes the state of funding for racial equity work. Among a host of important findings, the report offers two key takeaways to funders who want to be generative members of the racial equity ecosystem. First, accountability, a necessity of racial equity work, is impossible without rigorous and transparent reporting. Second, funders must trust and defer to the articulated needs of movement leaders and fund the work that movement leaders say is needed to achieve enduring change.
Racial Inequality is a Business Risk
The events of 2020 drew heightened attention in corporate America to the issue of economic inequality. Following the protests across the United States sparked by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, nearly half of the companies in the S&P 500 issued public statements denouncing discrimination or pledging a review of policies and practices related to diversity and inclusion, according to an S&P Global Ratings report. Simply recognizing the problems of racism and inequality, however, is not enough. The private sector can play a leading role in addressing social issues, and investors can help lead the charge. Investors should integrate the risk posed by economic inequality into their investment decision-making and hold portfolio companies accountable for addressing this critical issue. Inaction on these fronts can have financially material effects that undermine corporate value and threaten fund performance.
There is a Strong Business Case for Racial Equity, But Investors Must Look Beyond the Data
From Veris Wealth Partners: Veris Wealth Partners asserts, "[The] data indicates that too many public commitments to racial equity and racial justice amount to impact washing–it is more a marketing tactic than an authentic, action-backed commitment to change. To ensure authenticity we must look beyond public statements and seek action and accountability. We must look to see who is in leadership. Is racial equity evidenced in the C-suite or in the boardroom of these corporations? Is pay equity addressed at all levels of the firm? Unfortunately, not a lot has changed on that front."
The United States Prosperity Index 2021
The Legatum Institute’s United States Prosperity Index provides a comprehensive picture of prosperity for the 50 states of the Union and Washington D.C., as well as the 1,196 counties of 12 selected states: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Action for Racial Equity
In 2020, Citi and the Citi Foundation announced Action for Racial Equity, a comprehensive set of strategic initiatives that harness the core capabilities of each institution to help close the racial wealth gap in the U.S. The intiative's website provides updates and key statistics.
Bridging the Gap between Local and Expat Founder Funding
Over the years, the inflow of startup funding capital in Africa has been rapidly growing, as investors have started paying more attention to investment opportunities in Africa. Getting down to who received the cash gives deeper insights as to the development of different ecosystems. This article from VC4A puts forth the belief that the question of who received the money is a relevant one and one that should be consistently tracked; or, to put it differently, it is not enough that the cash raised keeps increasing, but it should also reach local founders.
Racial Equity: The Economic and Business Case for Change
This page from Mission Investors Exchange compiles evidence, in reports going back to 2013, illuminating how and why racial equity is good for business — and how inequity causes economic harm — with increasing implications as America's heads towards a population in which more than half of U.S. workers and consumers will be people of color by 2050. Impact investors can use these data to make the case for why pursuing racial equity in impact investing may indeed be a fiduciary responsibility and lead to long-term gains.
Ten Things to Know about Gender Equality
How can we ensure that the role of women in the workplace and in society is central to efforts to rebuild economies in the COVID-19 era, and that women do not fall further behind? As world leaders at the UN General Assembly assess progress, look ahead to recovery, and commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Beijing declaration, McKinsey offered their perspectives on the ten things everyone should know about gender equality.
Diverse Asset Managers: Opportunities for inclusion
The Knight Foundation reviews the data on firms owned by women and minorities in the asset management industry.
Investing in the Future: The Case for Increasing Diversity in Finance
As companies are setting their action plans to respond to social injustice around the world, Accenture's Managing Director - CEO and Enterprise Strategy adds to the discussion by sharing some thoughts on how the finance function has a particularly strong mandate to be more inclusive: not only is it the right thing to do–it’s vital to future success.
Investors Are Committing to Action on Diversity. Now What?
By Marcella Pinilla and Nandini Hampole: Amid a wave of societal commitments to action on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and racial justice, investors are stepping up commitments and vowing to intensify engagement with companies on DEI. Despite some progress made to reflect a country’s demographics in the corporate office, in the U.S. and around the world, we are now amid a racial reckoning that calls on all of us to reflect on the real progress made and what needs to advance for real change. So, what does that mean for companies, and how should they prepare to meet the moment? BSR's report seeks to answer this question.
Inclusive Impact: A Comprehensive Review of Diversity in the Social Investment Sector
From The Diversity Forum: In 2018 Inclusive Boards was commissioned by the Diversity Forum, funded by the Connect Fund to extend and contribute to existing research on diversity in the social investment sector. The primary aim of this research was to use different data collection methods to better understand why there are ceilings for women in management positions and ethnic minorities in back office functions. They also examined other diversity strands whilst taking into account intersectionality factors.
Diversity Beyond Gender: The State of the Nation for Diverse Entrepreneurs
By Erika Brodnock from Extended Ventures: This vital piece of research, which was carried out by Extend Ventures with the support of Impact X Capital Partners and Tech Nation, looks at how the colour of a founder’s skin can adversely affect their access to capital in Britain.
Diversity As $uperpower: The (Well-Known) Data Against Homogeneous Teams In Venture Capital
The data are clear: As with public companies, startup founder and investing teams that are diverse—specifically with more than one gender and/or one race or ethnicity represented—are more innovative and make more money. In fact, venture capital investing teams limited to any one gender and/or any one race damage innovation and risk limiting financial outcomes. This article summarises the steady stream of evidence published since 2013 indicates that when startup teams and venture investing teams embrace differences in gender, race, ethnicity, educational background, and/or professional experience, these heterogeneous teams outperform homogeneous teams.
The Economic Benefits of Improving Social Inclusion
The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) commissioned Deloitte Access Economics to quantify the economic dividend from raising the level of social inclusion in Australia, with a focus on cultural diversity, in order to help shape its future policies and strategies for delivering on its Charter. The quantitative analysis in this report largely focuses on the benefits of social inclusion for culturally and linguistically diverse communities, specifically migrant communities, but this report recognises that there are many other groups that contribute to diversity and for whom improving social inclusion is likely to result in additional economic benefits.
Social Equity Investing: Righting Institutional Wrongs
From Cambridge Associates: This paper reviews the current state of social equity in the United States, highlight eight core social equity issue areas, and discuss the lessons they've learned in constructing portfolios with these investments. They define social equity investing as investments to promote equal opportunity and access for all, regardless of background, but understand that many investors have different definitions. While investors need to be mindful of risks, the authors believe that investments can be made to promote a social equity impact agenda across the portfolio.