Diverse Asset Managers Initiative Applauds Georgetown’s Transparency on Diversity

For Immediate Release: September 9, 2022

Contact: Carolyn Clendenin, cclendenin@rabengroup.com, 347-869-7382

Diverse Asset Managers Initiative Applauds Georgetown University’s Transparency on Diversity

Washington, D.C. - Georgetown University recently released its 3rd annual report on the diversity of its endowment managers. Georgetown is one of the few universities in the nation to voluntarily release comprehensive diversity data on its endowment managers – and is by far the most detailed in its analysis.

Unfortunately, the report shows little progress on diversity. Just 16 percent of Georgetown’s U.S.-based managers had 50% or greater ownership by minorities – essentially the same as 15 percent from 2021. 

Robert Raben, executive director and founder of the Diverse Asset Managers Initiative -- an effort to bolster racial and gender representation in the asset managers industry -- issued the following statement in response:

“Georgetown’s admirable release of its diversity data underscores a pathetic fact: They are one of the precious few higher education institutions to provide this data by race and gender. Many schools tout their overall diversity figures, but refuse to say whether they are working with Black and Latino managers – who are most underrepresented in the industry. Another tranche of schools won’t release data at all.  

“This is cowardice, pure and simple. For the life of us, we don’t understand why a school like Stanford won’t say exactly how they work with Black people. We applaud Georgetown’s decision to proactively share its numbers, and hope other schools will follow their lead. 

“That being said, at the end of the day, the ultimate goal of transparency is to create change. Unfortunately, Georgetown’s numbers have barely budged over the past year. We hope Georgetown takes a critical look at its current practices and takes steps to attract and retain more talented women and people of color.” 

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The Diverse Asset Managers Initiative is an effort to increase the absolute number of, and assets under management by, diverse-owned asset management firms for institutional investors, with specific focus on public, corporate, faith and labor union pension funds as well as foundation and university endowments.