CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, announces that more than 100 finance industry organizations across the United States and Canada have signed up to the industry’s first voluntary Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Code for the Investment Profession in the United States and Canada (“DEI Code”) within the first year of the DEI Code’s existence.

Launched by CFA Institute in February 2022, the DEI Code fosters action to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the investment industry through six metrics-based principles built to generate a cycle of positive change for individuals and organizations. The DEI Code also requires signatories to amplify the impact of their commitment by making the economic, business, and moral case for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Signatory organizations together represent around US$11.2 trillion in assets under management — approximately 10 percent of the investment industry’s assets under management globally* — as well as some US$9.5 trillion assets under advisement.

Representative signatory organizations include Alberta Investment Management Corporation, Callan, CalPERS, Cambridge Associates, Carlyle, GMO, LGIM America, MassPRIM, Mawer Investment Management, MFS Investment Management, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Natixis Investment Managers, NEPC, LLC., Northern Trust Asset Management, Nuveen, Oaktree Capital Management, L.P., PGIM, SLC Management, Wellington Management, and more.

DEI Code signatories commit to providing a confidential, annual progress report to CFA Institute using an accompanying reporting framework. CFA Institute will aggregate reporting data to provide new industry-level DEI action data, beginning in the second half of 2023. In addition, CFA Institute has started working with European investment industry leaders to explore how the DEI Code can be introduced in the UK and across Europe.

Margaret Franklin, CFA, President & CEO, CFA Institute, comments:

“I am honored to welcome so many leading firms to our roll call of signatory organizations to the CFA Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Code. We launched the DEI Code because we recognize that diverse perspectives lead to better outcomes – better outcomes for investors and better outcomes for society — and create an inclusive investment industry that will better serve and be more reflective of society as a whole.”

“CFA Institute was the first signatory to the DEI Code. This was our acknowledgment that this work is essential, and there are no shortcuts. This is not a ‘pledge and forget’ process. By becoming a signatory to the Code, firms become accountable, and we believe accountability is the differentiator to achieving progress. I am excited to see the continuing momentum for action that the DEI Code is enabling across our industry.”

Marlene Timberlake D’Adamo, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, CalPERS, and Chair of the CFA Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Steering Committee, whose members collaborated with CFA Institute to develop the DEI Code, comments:

“Industry leaders who adopt this Code as their own are leading through example. We have provided a roadmap that can guide organizations to advance best practices with sound data and analysis that demonstrates the value diversity, equity and inclusion brings to the investment industry.”

Sarah Maynard, ASIP, Global Senior Head, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, CFA Institute comments:

“We are so pleased with the progress of the DEI Code in just one year. We look forward to working with investment industry leaders in the UK and Europe to explore how we can introduce the DEI Code to the region, while being mindful of recognizing market, region, and cultural differences in additional adaptations of the Code. For all markets, we aim to bring a workable international framework that has been created, trialed, and proven to support and drive DEI work in practice. DEI Code signatories have the support of an operationalized reporting process that helps firms to plan and evidence their progress. Critically, the Code will help us to deliver new data that highlight industry best practice and identifies where more work on DEI is urgently needed.”

Source: CFA Institute