Nicsa’s Diversity Project Releases 2020-21 Industry Survey Results

Nicsa’s Annual DEI Perception Study observes that while the finance industry overall is widely regarded as a laggard in publicly disclosing DEI statistics, asset management firms have started to take small steps toward increasing transparency through disclosing their Form EEO-1 data on employee race, ethnicity, and gender as well as publishing more detailed transparency reports. The comprehensive report highlights employee perceptions on diversity, equity and inclusion strategies and priorities across asset management firms. The report notes, for instance that 74% of survey respondents feel that the industry is “somewhat committed” or “committed” to making changes to improve DEI in the next year. The survey also reported that 43% of respondents in 2020 felt that their organization was successful in achieving a good diversity balance in all positions. However, 70% of this year’s respondents described their organization as somewhat diverse or not diverse at all across all levels of the workforce and 79% described leadership as the same. When looking at the industry’s success in advancing DEI, 63% of last year’s respondents felt that it was successful or very successful while 62% of 2021’s  respondents felt that it was somewhat successful or not successful at all. The report also focused on equity initiatives, noting that in the United States there are large gaps in socioeconomics and education that create inequity in financial services employment opportunities and that firms must consider equity factors alongside diversity factors in adjusting recruitment and hiring practices. “Equity is one component that needs more attention from the asset management industry when setting specific commitments, and it needs to be addressed by the highest levels of organizations,” according to the report. Nicsa’s Diversity Project North America initiative was founded in 2018 with a mission to advance DEI within our industry’s workforces, leadership, and corporate cultures.