Non-profit group Black Women in Asset Management (BWAM) has added several major asset managers as institutional members.
The new supporters include the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock, as well as State Street Global Advisors, JP Morgan Asset Management and M&G.
Jacqueline Taiwo, BWAM chair and co-founder, said in a statement that the new partnerships would support non-white women in the asset management industry as well as help BWAM expand its reach.
“Their support will accelerate BWAM’s impact in 2022, allowing the organisation to bring in new resources, and offer more career development, networking, and visibility opportunities for black women in asset management,” Taiwo said. “We also look forward to expanding our existing outreach initiatives to encourage more young black women to pursue careers in investment.”
Other new partners include Ares Management, Federated Hermes, Helios Investment Partners, Maniyar Capital and Morningstar UK. In total the new members account for $17trn (£13trn) in assets under management.
Justine Anderson, EMEA chief operating officer at BlackRock, said: “We know that empowering young black women in the early stages of their careers is essential for advancing and retaining black women leaders, whose positive impact within our workforce drives improved outcomes for our clients, our shareholders and all our stakeholders.”
M&G’s director of diversity, inclusion and well-being Mark McLane added: “We’re committed to creating an inclusive culture and, with our goal of 40% of senior leaders to be women and 20% to be from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background by 2025, we share BWAM’s ambitions. We look forward to working with BWAM to support women from black and ethnic minority backgrounds to advance their careers within asset management and the wider finance industry.”
BWAM was set up in 2019 to increase the representation of black women working in the asset management industry.
The organisation has also encouraged firms to create more inclusive environments by providing benefits which can enhance diversity strategies, including offering access to exclusive roundtables with diversity, equity, and inclusion experts.
Research conducted by the Investment Association in 2019 revealed that less than 1% of investment managers in the UK are black.
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