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Fifth e-Newsletter

2019 was the biggest year yet for the Diversity Project – more members (over seventy), more events and most importantly more actions taken by individual firms and collaboratively to address multiple dimensions of diversity in our industry.

The final quarter of the year was especially active, with the #Time2Deliver seminar hosted by Willis Towers Watson addressing the tricky topic of culture, a large scale #TalkAboutBlack graduate recruitment fair at the Mansion House, a very well-attended SMART Working conference where we announced our partnership with Timewise, the launch of a new upReach programme to help broaden the socio-economic range of our industry’s graduate intake and a very popular Neurodiversity event (thank you AXA, Schroders and Fidelity respectively for hosting).

We also held our annual Strategy Day, helped by Lansons, and made further progress on two key issues: the gender pay gap (thanks to PwC) and addressing some of the specific barriers facing portfolio managers who take extended leave (for whatever reason).

We are delighted to see that this work is being reflected in the way that fund raters assess managers and think about gaps in track records (thanks to our specific supporting companies and Citywire here). We also saw the launch of a Scottish chapter and progress in North America.

It’s been wonderful seeing many firms and individuals getting involved and prioritising creating more inclusive workplaces. 2020 is all about building on this momentum and finally seeing more progress in the stats – something we always knew would take some time.

We now have every reason to be confident that we can achieve our aim of creating a new generation of exciting investment talent that will deliver for customers and encourage others to join our industry. Thank you!

With best wishes,

Helena


The latest standards and self-assessment form are now available. Please work with your team to ensure this form is completed by 31 March 2020 and send them to us.

Time to get serious: If diversity is a business imperative, treat it like one – a report by PwC, in association with the Diversity Project, on diversity and inclusion in investment management.

The Early Career workstream has, in collaboration with upReach, successfully launched the Investment Industry Springboard, designed to build awareness about the different roles in the Investment & Savings Industry amongst students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The Academy comprised a two day programme of presentations and exercises. Following this, the goal is for all students on the scheme to receive a work experience opportunity at DP member firms in 2020. We are looking for more work experience opportunities, if you can offer this and to find out more, please get in contact.

We are pleased to announce that the Diversity Project cross company returners programme has launched, with our event on Wednesday 15th January. The Returners workstream has worked on this and is being facilitated by our partner Women Returners. The programme starts in January 2020 and will run for 6 months from April to September. To find out more about this excellent programme, please click here. Many thanks to the seven member firms involved.

International Men’s Day: Women Ahead / Moving Ahead have hosted their first International Men’s Day event. The event explored key themes relating to diversity and inclusion, including men’s mental health, family and flexibility, the power of role models and mentoring.

Become a Founding Member of The Diversity Project Charity Mosaic, a new digital fundraising initiative. Give today and buy a tile and make a real difference to people’s lives up and down the UK. Get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

Read our very popular “Addressing barriers to diversity in Portfolio Management“ performance continuity and turnover guidance. We ask readers to discuss the content of the paper internally with HR and other colleagues, and for asset owners and consultants with their manager research teams. For further information, please contact us.

Check out our new #TalkAboutBlack web page and see what the team are busy working on. #TAB also held a very successful event at the Guildhall giving an insight into asset management.

SMART working – practical recommendations. This is a great presentation with practical guidance and recommendations on SMART working at an organisational, management, team and individual level.

Shared Parental Leave – a great piece from a first time dad. He discovered the shared parental leave benefits the company he worked for had in place and takes us through his journey. Here’s to more companies following suit!

Over 330 investment industry professionals attended The Diversity Project’s Annual Industry Wide Event, kindly hosted by Willis Towers Watson in October. Click here to see the post event site with videos, photos, slides and other supporting material.


Here are some great videos from our October event – Challenges disabled people face in the workplace. A frank discussion about the panel’s disabilities, why companies struggle to hire and retain people with disabilities, a guide to what language to use and answering what attracts you to a company, among many other interesting topics discussed.

Leaders with babies – our Chair, Dame Helena Morrissey, about her story of combining a leadership career with a large family, how not to be overlooked at work as a new mum and what to do to put yourself in the best position to be promoted.


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