New Knight Foundation Study Shows Women and People of Color Remain Woefully Underrepresented in the Asset Management Industry
For Immediate Release: December 7, 2021
Contact: Carolyn Clendenin, cclendenin@rabengroup.com, 347-869-7382
Diverse Asset Managers Initiative: New Knight Foundation Study Shows Women and People of Color Remain Woefully Underrepresented in the Asset Management Industry
Washington, D.C. - Today, the Knight Foundation released a new study revealing that diverse-owned firms control just 1.4 percent of total U.S. assets under management. The figure marks a slight uptick from the 2019 report, which found that diverse-owned firms managed 1.3 percent of assets. The analysis also concludes that diverse- and non-diverse-owned funds perform at similar levels.
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:
“It is unacceptable that minority- and women-owned firms continue to manage such a measly portion of U.S. assets. From 2019 to 2021, the figure inched up from 1.3 to 1.4 percent of all assets. 98.6 percent of all assets in the United States appear to be managed by white and male-owned firms. Is anyone willing to publicly make the case that this is appropriate?
“The study again finds that women and people of color perform at par with white men, and that we do not have a supply problem of minority talent in the US, we have a demand problem.
“Allocators have every financial reason to diversify. This report contributes to the pile of evidence that proves diverse managers perform similarly to or better than non-diverse managers. Ignoring diversity means forsaking returns.
“We thank the Knight Foundation and Professor Lerner for continuing to do this critical work. True progress demands data and transparency.”
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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.