Skip to main content
Commentary General

Addressing Ethnic and Racial Diversity

Dsodfj resized
diversity protest 768x512

If the last few months have shown us anything, it is that the role of companies in addressing social and environmental issues is now an accepted – even expected – part of running a business. Whatever we might feel about it, private companies are now routinely scrutinised on their position and approach to major social and environmental issues such as gender, COVID-19, climate change and most recently minority rights and race.

The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the end of May catalysed a global protest focused on incidents of police brutality against minority and particularly black minority communities. This campaign has subsequently expanded to consider the rights of Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities more generally.

This has prompted consideration of the role of the financial community in addressing racial diversity1. The sector itself has a poor track-record on diversity in all its guises, but particularly on racial diversity2. Some institutions have moved to increase diversity. BlackRock Inc., for example, has committed to increase its Black workforce by 30% by 2024 and double the proportion of senior leaders who are Black from the current 3% level. Fiona Reynolds, the chief executive officer of the London-based Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), has argued that the financial sector needs to do better itself in supporting racial diversity3.

For asset managers like WHEB the issue has three main dimensions. The first two embody how we address racial diversity in our interactions with companies that we invest in, and the third focuses on how WHEB itself addresses the issue in our own business.

Diversity in product impact – WHEB’s Impact Engine

As clients will hopefully know, WHEB’s investment philosophy is squarely focused on companies that supply products and services that deliver clear positive social and environmental impact. At the heart of our investment process is our ‘impact engine’ that is designed to capture the multi-dimensional nature of this positive impact. One of these dimensions involves an assessment of who the customers are for the company’s products and services and how vulnerable or under-served they are. Healthcare products that are explicitly aimed at the elderly or young, for example, score more highly on this dimension than interventions that are undifferentiated and address the whole population.

Similarly, there is a clear focus on products and services that address underserved populations. For example, healthcare insurance businesses or providers of tertiary education that disproportionately benefit disadvantaged communities, including Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities are scored more highly than businesses that are focused on already well-served communities.

Centene, a US-based managed healthcare provider, is explicitly focused on providing healthcare insurance to poorer and underserved communities and therefore their services disproportionately benefit the African-American community in the US. Similarly, the WHEB strategy is invested in two tertiary education providers that also support underserved communities. One of the more recent investments in the strategy is in the US-based tertiary education provider Strategic Education. Strategic’s programmes are focused in particular on people who did not have the opportunity or financial means to continue their education after high-school. The majority of students are working adults who are returning to education in order to improve their career opportunities. 76% of students are female and 64% are people of colour4. The company also has a particular focus in providing support to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in developing on-line education capabilities.

Diversity within investee companies

In recent years, WHEB has made diversity, and particularly gender diversity, a priority engagement issue with portfolio companies. There is evidence that addressing gender diversity also benefits other diverse groups as well5. However, it is clear from these engagements that many portfolio businesses consider the issue of diversity to extend well beyond gender to include other aspects of diversity including ethnic diversity as well as diversity of experience and culture. Two holdings, TE Connectivity and STERIS, both argued in recent exchanges that the composition of their Boards had been designed explicitly to address this wider definition of diversity. Both claim to have Boards of Directors that are more than 50% ‘diverse’. We will ensure that our engagement with portfolio companies addresses diversity in all its manifestations as a core objective.

WHEB and diversity

Like most of the UK’s financial services sector, WHEB still has work to do to address gender and racial diversity in our own business and operations. Fundamentally we embrace diversity, inclusion and equality as a core value. We also recognise that a business culture that allows minority groups to flourish is likely to be more successful over the long run. Our understanding of these issues has improved in recent years and is evident in the approach and composition of our employees and within our advisory bodies6. We remain committed to fostering further diversity throughout our direct operations as we continue to grow.

WHEB also remains very active in supporting greater diversity more broadly through our internship programme and participation in wider industry initiatives. For example, for the past five years we have worked with the Social Mobility Foundation7 offering short internships to young men and women from diverse ethnic backgrounds to work at WHEB.

WHEB is also a founding corporate partner of City Hive which is an independent organisation working to create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive corporate culture within the investment management industry8. We know we don’t have all the answers. We are committed to educating ourselves through listening and working with City Hive and with the wider B Corporation network to identify ways that we can play a more proactive role in supporting diversity across all of our activities.

1 https://www.responsible-investor.com/articles/what-are-investors-doing-to-support-the-fight-for-racial-equality

2 https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/black-lives-matter-finance-20200629

3 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-24/esg-investors-are-confronting-a-race-problem-of-their-own

4 Strategic Education

5 Perse. Comm. Bev Shah

6 Including for example on WHEB’s independent Investment Advisory Committee

7 https://www.socialmobility.org.uk

8 https://www.cityhive.co.uk

Important Notices:
Risks include: the price of shares (“Shares”) in FP WHEB Sustainability Fund, WHEB Sustainable Impact Fund or WHEB Environmental Impact Fund may increase or decrease and you may not get back the amount originally invested, for reasons including adverse market and foreign exchange rate movements. Past performance does not predict future returns. The Fund invests in equities and is exposed to price fluctuations in the equity markets, and focuses on investments in mid-sized companies in certain sectors so its performance may not correlate closely with the MSCI World Index (the benchmark). For full risks, please see fund prospectus on www.whebgroup.com

 

General: This information, its contents and any related communication (altogether, the “Information”) is issued by WHEB Asset Management LLP (“WHEB Asset Management”). It is intended for information purposes only and does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation to buy or sell any security including any shares in the FP WHEB Sustainability Fund or WHEB Sustainable Impact Fund, including in the United States. It should not be relied upon to make an investment decision in relation to Shares in the FP WHEB Sustainability Fund or WHEB Sustainable Impact Fund or otherwise; any such investment decision should be made only on the basis of the Fund scheme documents and appropriate professional advice. This Information does not constitute advice of any kind, investment research or a research recommendation, is in summary form and is subject to change without notice. The performance shown does not take account of any commissions and costs charged when subscribing to and redeeming shares. WHEB Asset Management has exercised reasonable care in preparing this Information including using reliable sources, however, makes no representation or warranty relating to its accuracy, reliability or completeness or whether any future event may or may not occur. This Information is only made available to recipients who may lawfully receive it in accordance with applicable laws, regulations and rules and binding guidance of regulators. WHEB Asset Management LLP is registered in England and Wales with number OC 341489 and has its registered office at 7 Cavendish Square, London, W1G 0PE. WHEB Asset Management LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with Firm Reference Number 496413.

 

FP WHEB Sustainability Fund

FundRock Partners Limited (formerly Fund Partners Limited) is the Authorised Corporate Director of the Fund and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with Firm Reference Number 469278 and has its registered office at 6th Floor Bastion House, 140 London Wall, London, EC2Y 5DN. The state of the origin of the Fund is England and Wales. The Representative in Switzerland is ACOLIN Fund Services AG, Leutschenbachstrasse 50, CH-8050 Zurich, whilst the Paying Agent is NPB Neue Privat Bank AG, Limmatquai 1/am Bellevue, P.O. Box, 8024 Zurich . The relevant documents such as the prospectus, the key investor information document (KIIDs), the Articles of Association as well as the annual and semi-annual reports may be obtained free of charge from the Representative in Switzerland.

 

WHEB Sustainable Impact Fund

The Manager of the Fund is FundRock Management Company S.A., authorised and regulated by the Luxembourg regulator to act as UCITS management company and has its registered office at 33, rue de Gasperich, L-5826 Hesperange, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. The Representative in Switzerland is ACOLIN Fund Services AG, Leutschenbachstrasse 50, CH-8050 Zurich, whilst the Paying Agent is NPB Neue Privat Bank AG, Limmatquai 1/am Bellevue, P.O. Box, 8024 Zurich. The relevant documents such as the prospectus, the key investor information document (KIIDs), the Articles of Association as well as the annual and semi-annual reports may be obtained free of charge from the representative in Switzerland. The state of the origin of the Fund is Ireland. The Fund is registered for distribution to professional investors in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Singapore, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and is registered for offering to retail investors in Switzerland, Denmark and the Netherlands. The Fund is also available for professional investors in Belgium and Hong Kong. It is not available to investors domiciled in the United States.

 

WHEB Environmental Impact Fund

The Manager of the Fund is FundRock Management Company S.A., authorised and regulated by the Luxembourg regulator to act as UCITS management company and has its registered office at 33, rue de Gasperich, L-5826 Hesperange, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. The Fund is registered for distribution to professional investors in the United Kingdom. It is not available to investors domiciled in the United States.

 

The MSCI information may only be used for your internal use, may not be reproduced or re-dissseminated in any form and may not be used as a basis for or a component of any financial instruments or products or indices. None of the MSCI information is intended to constitute investment advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment decision and may not be relied on as such. Historical data and analysis should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of any future performance analysis, forecast or prediction. The MSCI information is provided on an “as is” basis and the user of this information assumes the entire risk of any use made of this information. MSCI, each of its affiliates and each other person involved in or related to compiling, computing or creating any MSCI information (collectively, the “MSCI Parties”) expressly disclaims all warranties (including, without limitation, any warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, timeliness, non-infringement, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose) with respect to this information. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall any MSCI Party have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, punitive, consequential (including, without limitation, lost profits) or any other damages (www.msci.com).

Sign up to impact fund updates

Sign up below to receive email updates on our impact investment funds.
{{ errors[0] }}
{{ errors[0] }}
{{ errors[0] }}
{{ errors[0] }}
{{ errors[0] }}
{{ errors[0] }}
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Copyright 2024© WHEB. All rights reserved Made by Thursday
How to invest