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S3 Ep. 39

Investment Uncut: Asset manager diversity: the stats are in

Investment

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This week we’re discussing a brand new data set on diversity and inclusion within asset management with LCP’s Laasya Shekaran. We discuss – the background to this dataset and what the Diversity Charter entails. We discuss the coverage of the data and the challenges in collecting it. We run through highlights from the data and accompanying LCP report, pulling out key messages. We discuss various government review recommendations that serve as benchmarks to judge some of the data against. Finally, we focus on the future and where Laasya expects this to go over the next five years.

Links mentioned:

We discuss:

    • Asset Owner Diversity Charter – when did it come out, its aim, and what does it entail? 
    • Who has signed up so far? 
    • Why this and why now?
    • The questionnaire – the level of response from managers and the figures 
    • How have discussions with managers in this area gone? Particularly any good and bad examples that we have come across 
    • Data collection issues 
    • LCP’s report – key messages on the current state of play 
    • We’re all familiar with D&I, but let's spend a moment on DEI – we explain what we mean by equity  
    • Forward-looking - what Laasya would like to see over the next 12 months and the next 5 years?

What's one thing to take away?

The fund manager industry is connected to the wider world, we don’t exist in a silo.

What's the most underappreciated thing about this area?

How hard it is to get the data, and the need to think about the bigger picture in terms of systemic risks.

Any recommendations?