IEN Webinar: Allocating to Diverse-Owned Asset Managers
Date: August 5, 2020
Historically, investors have prioritized diversification with a focus on asset class, investment strategy, sector, and company. However, the diversification of manager backgrounds (and thus perspectives) has often gone unexplored. Allocating to asset management firms owned by people of color is necessary to diversify talent and deal flow and improve the endowment investment's risk and return profile. This panel digs into examples of how institutions can begin to allocate to diverse-owned asset managers and leave the participants with action steps to deploy capital behind people of color for better investing.
Recording:
Resources:
- Diversifying Investments: A Study of Ownership Diversity and Performance in the Asset Management Industry, Knight Foundation, Bella Research Group & Harvard Business School, January 2019
- Racial Equity Investing: A Primer for College & University Endowments, Intentional Endowments Network, August 2020
- 2020 Belonging Pledge – A Commitment to Advance Racial Equity which is a sign-on pledge to discuss racial equity in your next investment committee meeting
- DAMI's website on tracking and reporting
- IEN's webpage on diverse managers which includes sample investment policy statements
Speakers:
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Tiffany McGhee, Partner, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Chief Investment Officer of Institutional Client Services, Momentum Advisors. Read Tiffany's bio here. |
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Jasmine Richards, Head of Diverse Manager Research, Cambridge Associates. Read Jasmine's bio here. |
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Anthony Rust, Chair of the Investment Committee, Warren Wilson College. Read Anthony's bio here. |
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Justin Wilson, Director, Diverse Asset Managers Initiative (DAMI). Read Justin's bio here. |
Webinar: Incorporating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Factors in the Investment Process
Date: November 14, 2018, 11:45 a.m. ET
This webinar will be a high level overview on how investors can incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) factors at various levels of the investment process. Panelists introduced the basics of DEI, why DEI consideration is important, and the various ways an institutional investor can consider DEI issues.
Presenters:
- Anthony Rust, Chair of the Investment Committee, Warren Wilson College; Impact Fund Manager, BEI Business Equity Fund
- Justin Wilson, Director, Diverse Asset Managers Initiative
- Julianne Zimmerman, Managing Director, Reinventure Capital
- Moderator: Kaede Kawauchi, Program Manager, Intentional Endowments Network
IEN Webinar: All Investments Affect Racial (In)justice
This webinar is part of IEN's Investing in Racial Equity Series
Date: December 15, 2020, 1:00 p.m. ET
It is abundantly clear how investments in private prisons, or lack of investments for entrepreneurs of color, affect racial justice outcomes. But what about all the other investments in a portfolio? In this session led by Andrea Armeni, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Transform Finance, we will focus on some of the more difficult-to-see ways in which endowments are inextricably linked to outcomes that negatively affect communities of color. Transform Finance, along with other experts in the field, will lead us into conversation to argue that capital has a long way to go in being a true ally – or even just not being a source of harm – for communities of color, and this starts with identifying where race shows up in a portfolio in less obvious ways. Panelists will provide a look at some examples that tie seemingly neutral investment decisions to harmful practices that exacerbate issues like the racial wealth gap, job quality, education, housing, and health. We will discuss some of the real actions investors can take – and also try to get some ideas from the audience on obstacles to this approach.
Speakers:
- Andrea Armeni, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Transform Finance
- Lisa Hayles, Investment Manager at Trillium Asset Management
- Renaye Manley, Board Member of Majority Action, the Council of Institutional Investors, and the Thirty Percent Coalition
Recording:
Resources referenced:
- How Investments Drive Injustice and What Investors Can Do About It | Transform Finance, September 2020
- Equity in the Boardroom: How Asset Manager Voting Shaped Corporate Action on Racial Justice in 2020 | Majority Action, 2020
- Racial Justice Investing Group - RJI is a coalition of investors, asset owners, and business leaders who are taking action for racial justice within our own organizations, as well as in our engagements with portfolio companies
- S&P 250 Workplace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Disclosure Scorecard | As You Sow
- Nasdaq filed a proposal with the SEC to require Nasdaq-listed companies to disclose diversity statistics & have at least 2 diverse directors | Nasdaq is getting tremendous push back on their diversity proposal. It's important for all investors to submit supportive comments to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at [email protected] To reference the talking points that have been disseminated via the Thirty Percent Coalition, contact Kaede ([email protected]).