Asset owners have a huge amount of power when it comes to influencing gender equality on fund management teams, Diversity Project chair, Baroness Helena Morrissey, has told the industry.

Speaking at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) Investment Conference 2021, Morrissey told delegates there was a “huge amount” asset owners could do to help improve diversity in the fund management arena, and by harnessing that power they could assist in accelerating the progress in this area.

“We have been working on a set of data points that we hope will be useful for fund management houses to complete around their diversity statistics – not to compile numbers for its own sake, but to help them better manage the situation and be aware of where they might have some problems," said Morrissey.

"We know that the pension fund consultants are working on a similar set of data points, as is the PLSA. If we can get some common standards in terms of what you should ask of your fund managers in relation to their diversity, it would so accelerate the progress in this area.

“Having more diversity has been shown to have a powerful impact on results - it improves the bottom line; so it is rational to ask for this and to expect fund managers to do it."

Morrissey also urged the pensions industry to reach out to different people when recruiting trustees for their boards, as part of a wider drive to improve decision-making: “This is not about social engineering; about getting women on boards, for example, for women’s own sakes, but about trying to improve decision-making, trying to ensure different perspectives, experiences and viewpoints are taken into account. It is critical that we have different experiences and perspectives coming into the mix when we make decisions,” she added.

This includes, she said, consciously reaching out to people who might not have thought of being trustees, “who might not have thought it was for them because it is a bit of a closed shop”.

“There are things you can do to help with that, too, including the language you use in advertisements, and making sure you have an open mind as to what trustees might bring. Sometimes by thinking about different characteristics, qualifications and experiences, you can unearth a new group of potential candidates.

“Of course, we always need to choose the right person for the job,” Morrissey insisted, “it must be on merit; but the traditional view of what makes a good candidate needs challenging - we end up recruiting in our own image rather than thinking about what will complement existing capabilities."

Share Story: