Those of you who attended the panel discussion on trustee diversity at the PLSA’s Investment Conference may have been shocked to hear RPMI chief executive Chris Hitchen describe himself as a “sexist, racist, homophobe”.

It was an alarming statement to make, but Hitchen was referring to the unconscious biases and stereotypes we place on certain groups of society. Take for example the professor who, whilst being interviewed by BBC News on South Korea, had his children burst into his home office appearing in the background of the shot. Whilst he calmly carried on with his interview, a panicked Asian woman rushed in to escort the children out. Many of us assumed she was the nanny, only to find out later she was the man’s wife.

It is these kind of almost unconscious stereotypes that hold us back from progressing with diversity. In his speech Hitchen, acknowledged that his kids are less likely to be sexist, racist, homophobes than him because younger people seem less likely to hold these views.

If we relate this to trustee boards, of which The Pensions Regulator chief executive Lesley Titcomb noted, 82 per cent of trustees are male and only 8 per cent of trustees are under 40, there is evidently a lack of diversity, which these unconscious biases further fuel. Titcomb said the trustee board sector is “behind the game” and is going to face an increasing challenge in terms of gender and diversity as well as a demographic challenge in terms of an ageing trustee population.

Pension schemes, companies and professional trustee companies have a duty to break this mould. More needs to be done to encourage and help those from different backgrounds to become pension trustees. Diversity includes those we traditionally think of such as gender, ethnicity and disability as well as others such as religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic and educational backgrounds and parent and carer responsibilities.

It has been shown that a more diverse trustee board allows for different perspectives, and a move away from the clichéd groupthink. This is definitely something to welcome. Decisions made by trustee boards can have serious consequences for members and falling into the trap of groupthink is risky business, and one which the regulator is rightly concerned about.

The inclusion of member nominated trustees for some schemes is a good way to diversify trustee boards, in terms of social backgrounds. For example, Hitchen said he has noted that the different backgrounds are “very evident” in the conversations they have around
the table.

However, based on the statistics, this hasn’t done anything to improve the number of women and young people on trustee boards, and other diverse representatives. There is still a long way to go in diversification on trustee boards, not only to combat groupthink, but also to have a better representation of members on the board.

And so with that in mind, it is time to become, as Hitchen has, more conscious of the biases and stereotypes we hold in order to address them. Here’s to not being sexist, racist, homophobes...about time too.

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