Is Diversity improving in Private Equity and Investment Banking?
Intro
Our latest research into Diversity & Inclusion for professionals in the U.K working in an Investment Bank, Private Equity Fund and Asset Manager. The report highlights some positive trends over the last 12 months and shows the areas that still require improvement.
For several years, Diversity and Inclusion have been key hiring metrics for organisations. Within the financial industry, the lack of diversity in senior executives has been a common criticism, and significant Investment Banks and Asset Managers have committed to increasing the diversity of their workforce in the years ahead, such as Larry Fink at BlackRock, who promised 30% more Black employees at the firm by 2024. This report aims to provide insights into how much progress has been made in the last 12 months compared to historical data.
Download the full report to receive insights into the top employers for Diversity & Inclusion in the U.K and how each hierarchy level is performing in Diversity & Inclusion.
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METHODOLOGY
ODM Partners has one of the most comprehensive market maps available for Infrastructure, Renewable Energy and Impact Investing in Europe. This report focuses on the U.K profiling over 4,000 professionals in Financing, Investing or Asset Management positions.
The report will break down the hiring diversity over 2021, 2020, 2019 and Q1 of 2022. We will also provide data from 2017 to compare how diversity has progressed over the last five years.
Certain levels in the hierarchy have been grouped for reporting purposes.
Analyst = Analyst & Intern’s
Associate = Associate & Senior Associates
Vice President = Manager, AVP, VP, SVP, Principal and Associate Director
Director = Director, Executive Director
Managing Director = Managing Director, Partner, Head of Department
C Suite = CEO, COO, CIO, Managing Partner, CFO
When referring to historical data, this means candidates currently working in one of the above levels but could have been employed in any year. Analyst is the only level that goes back to 2019 due to the short period candidates are hired at the Analyst level.
Organisations included in this report include Accountants, Asset Managers, Financial Advisors, Institutional Investors, Investment Banks, Private Equity Funds and Corporations.
What can organisations do?
1. Allow time.
When searching for a new employee, the focus can be on speed rather than quality and diversity. If the speed of the hiring process is the priority and male candidates represent 75% of the overall talent pool, the odds would suggest you will have a very male-dominated shortlist of candidates. Your search partner should consult you, provide expectations and insights on the talent pool and allow for a thorough process that prioritises quality and diversity over speed.
2. Assess current employees.
Do you currently understand the diversity of your current workforce by level, location and department? The overall diversity breakdown can hide issues within a specific department, location or group in the hierarchy. If there is a problem at the VP level within investment roles, why is that? Is there a problem with retaining Senior Associates, and the pool for VPs is limited?
3. Assess current environment
Do you have the appropriate environment for a diverse workforce? Or do policies need updating to be more inclusive and help retain employees? Do you have a Diversity and Inclusion department/team? What message has the organisation provided on the importance of diverse groups?
Summary of Findings
- Diversity in Q1 2022 has shown promising progress, with 32% of all new hires from ethnic minority backgrounds. In 2017 this was 18%.
- 2020 was a quiet year for hiring compared to 2021, with almost a 50% increase in hiring 2021. However, hires from an ethnic minority stayed flat at 23%.
- The historical data for all candidates employed in U.K regardless of the start date is 25% female to 75% male employees. Since 2019, this has started to increase to 27% 2019, 27% 2020, 30% 2021 and 31% in Q1 of 2022. The average number of females among Analyst, Associate and VP is 31%. However, at Director and above, this drops to 18%.
