University of California Releases Best-In-Class Report on Diversity Among Endowment Managers
For Immediate Release: July 12, 2021
Contact: Carolyn Clendenin, cclendenin@rabengroup.com, 347-869-7382
University of California Releases Best-In-Class Report on Diversity Among Endowment Managers and Steps to Drive Improvement, Says Diverse Asset Managers Initiative
Washington, D.C. - On Friday, the University of California’s investment office released its second annual report on its progress on diversity, equity, and inclusion. It offers detailed information on the diversity of UC Investments and its partners, and the concrete steps it is taking to further improve representation.
“Once again, the University of California has presented best-in-class reporting on the diversity of its endowment managers and its plans to advance the representation of women and people of color. The university is a true leader. The overwhelming majority of schools across the nation refuse to publicly release any data, let alone anything this comprehensive,” said Robert Raben, founder of the Diverse Asset Managers Initiative. “Other colleges and universities should take a cue from the UC. The fact is diversity improves returns. Only by producing and critically examining diversity data can we create meaningful change and boost the bottom line.”
The report reveals that 60 percent of the university’s newly added investment partners were women and or Black-owned. Additionally, nearly 40 percent of university partners are “substantially” or “majority” diverse-owned. UC Investments has also pledged to invest at least an additional $2 billion with diverse investment firms over the next four years.
The total numbers invested by firms owned by Black and Latino/a asset managers is still too small, given the talent. But DAMI is confident that with the leadership of Chief Investment Officer Jagdeep Singh Bachher and the UC Board of Regents, the university is moving in the right direction.
The report also outlines specific steps UC is taking to bolster diversity. For example, the university is ensuring diverse pools of candidates for hiring, organizing educational conversations with women and diverse leaders in finance, providing tools for staff to create inclusive environments, and requiring senior leaders to complete unconscious bias training. And to ensure transparency, the university developed a public Diversified Returns webpage.
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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.