It’s been two years since we made the public call to action for greater diversity in the asset management industry in our white paper: Diversity in the asset management industry. We challenged our peers to transform Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) from an abstract concept to a robust, holistic approach within our industry.
Since then, we have seen more and more asset owners and asset managers recognize the benefits of fostering diversity within their teams as we continue to engage with the industry.
“Our analysis continues to make the case for greater diversity, with investment teams in the top quartile of gender diversity outperforming those in the bottom quartile by 45bps per annum1.”
Chris Redmond Global Head of Manager Research, WTW
There has undoubtedly been movement on this topic in recent years. However, is enough being done to achieve meaningful progress and improve investment outcomes?
In this paper, we take the temperature across several dimensions of DEI and probe the pace of change. We check in on our previous call to action, outlining where the industry stands today versus where it needs to go to align with DEI best practices. Greater transparency has enabled us to identify key industry trends and further highlight the benefits of diversity. We hope to provide as much insight as possible across the industry to both asset owners and asset managers who are focussed on diversity and want to drive change.
For asset owners looking to begin or accelerate their DEI journey, we also dig into today’s challenges, outline our proposed solutions, and demonstrate how our comprehensive toolkit can help you to map your DEI journey.
1. Source: WTW, asset managers, eVestment. Diversity data as of 31 December 2021, net performance data as of 31 December 2022. Universe of managers is based on 543 products that have 1) responded to WTW's DEI questionnaire, providing gender diversity data for the investment team managing the strategy and 2) have a 5-year track record of relative performance available on eVestment, against their self-selected preferred benchmark or 3month SONIA if this is not available. To calculate net performance, we have subtracted the largest stated fee available on eVestment from gross performance. When both fees and gross performance were not shared for a strategy, we have used net performance obtained directly from eVestment.
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| Title | File Type | File Size |
|---|---|---|
| Diversity in the asset management industry: on the right track, but at the wrong pace | 1.2 MB |
