On the go: The Investment Association is leading a drive to recruit more black fund managers, after a new report revealed the poor extent of black representation in the industry.
Only a tiny minority of investment managers are black – less than 1 per cent – even though they make up 3 per cent of the UK population and more than 13 per cent of people in London, the city housing the lion’s share of financial services. These stark figures are revealed in ‘Black Voices: Building black representation in investment management’ created by the IA in association with #talkaboutblack.
An anonymous black investment executive quoted in the report says: “Rarely do black people end up in revenue-generating or decision-making roles. We have a prevalence of junior black people in support functions.”
Another says: “A lot of the people who are hiring are hiring people who look like them, who speak like them.”
The report sets out key steps firms can take to improve the situation. Recommendations include:
Modernising recruitment processes by reaching out to a wider, more diverse entry-level talent pool. Firms should also consider implementing ‘contextual recruitment’, in which hiring decisions take into account individuals’ circumstances and their innate abilities.
Establishing mentoring or talent development programmes,
Building black networks to help black people discover new opportunities within the industry.
Widening education on inclusion which recognises an individual’s whole identity and focuses on equality. Unconscious bias training may be a good starting point for managers and staff involved in recruitment and development,
Using the term black, rather than BAME, which currently masks the different experiences and varying representations of ethnic groups. Many people also prefer to be described as being black, not BAME.
On behalf of #talkaboutblack, Justin Onuekwusi, head of retail multi-asset funds at Legal & General Investment Management said: “While ethnic minorities are generally under-represented across the asset management industry, the issue becomes all the more pressing when we consider how few employees, especially those in senior leadership, are black.
"It has long been taboo to discuss ethnicity, yet change can only come about once we have these conversations. We created #talkaboutblack as a platform to not only discuss the challenges faced by our black colleagues, but to also come up with solutions.”
Chris Cummings, chief executive of the Investment Association, concluded: “Diversity makes us all stronger. Different voices, opinions and experiences help investment performance, widening horizons and discouraging group think.”
