The world of pensions and asset management is a world of creamy white, highly educated men in suits. It is a prejudice. At the same time, it is hard to deny that there is a grain of truth in it. If you want to convince people of individual investing as an alternative to saving, it doesn't help if they don't identify with it. Lisanne Molina and Ric van Weelden advise DUFAS on how to deal with this. They have some tips for anyone working in this sector.
How did you end up with Dufas like that?
Ric: "The collaboration arose as a result of a presentation to DUFAS' DEI working group. Diversity Project Europe is a partnership between asset managers in Europe. So that was an instant good match. The underlying idea behind the collaboration is that the world of asset management is changing tremendously fast, that more people are saving individually and that companies should reflect that."
Lisanne: "In short, we work with organizations to make them more inclusive and diverse. Our philosophy is that we believe the asset managers of the future will be diverse with different perspectives on the world. Initially, we focus on three topics: inclusive cultures, gender equality and social mobility."
Why is that so important, except that then the workforce looks like the people they want to reach?
Lisanne: "Diversity for asset managers is important because then you can look at things from different angles together. Life experiences, cultures, ways of thinking: these are all crucial to ensure that you arrive at the best solutions and innovate. With a homogeneous - meaning equal - workforce, you miss the speed and agility of society. Diversity, by the way, is nothing without an inclusive culture in the workplace. You want everyone in your organization to dare to let their voice be heard. Only then will you really get the best ideas and perform better as a company."
Ric: "Pension funds and asset managers want saving for your retirement to be much more direct. So people need to recognize themselves in the industry that provides that product. That works better. That's not just a position of ours, but scientifically based.
Lisanne, you yourself work at Aegon, one of the members of DUFAS. How do you guys look at it?
Lisanne: "Aegon recognizes the importance of inclusion and diversity in its organization, and is committed to continuous improvement in this area. That's why we collaborated on a study to find out exactly what causes the lack of diversity in this sector. That survey started last year and was conducted by PWC among thirty asset managers. What came back is that everyone talks about the importance of diversity, but we see that in practice it doesn't happen often enough. You have to dare to open up as an organization, i.e. be socially safe. You then build an organization that functions better and is competitive in the future."
Ric: "Diversity in itself is not the story huh. It's just nód necessary."
Give a concrete tip.
Lisanne: "It takes something from your leadership. You lead by example and encourage people to speak up. Having diversity on a team by itself is not enough. You actively listen and give space to other perspectives. Give the floor to someone who doesn't normally speak for themselves. That includes friction, you shouldn't avoid that at all. But that is then on the content, not the person."
Well, that should be quite doable, right?
Ric: "It's not easy though, we don't claim that. You can't solve everything with a magic wand and a magic spell. It is a matter of long term. It starts with schools and universities, so that you already attract more diverse talent when studying Economics, for example. That works its way into the business world. How do you ensure that more students from broader backgrounds are attracted to this world? Maybe we should already encourage more economics education in elementary school!"
So things don't go quite right at the beginning, in education, and also not always in the companies themselves. How do you look at the recruitment process of new employees?
Lisanne: "It is in people to find someone more suitable if you recognize yourself in someone. You like that one. That can be a pitfall for recruiters or managers hiring new employees. You address that by properly reviewing your hiring process and training on recognizing your own, often unconscious, biases."
Ric: "Well, when I was 35, I was sent to New York City by my then employer. I had never worked there before, but I got that promotion based on what we call perceived skill. So what people thought I could do. Instead of 'proven experience,' meaning what I could actually do. If I hadn't matched the profile that was common at the time, it probably would have been very different.... Then I became aware of the little things that have a lot of impact."
Indeed, that doesn't sound good.
Lisanne: "Look, we don't have to doom ourselves. But with the Diversity Project Europe, we are bringing a counter voice and putting our shoulders to the wheel together to not only identify this problem, but actually do something about it."
Ric: "It starts with recognition: different companies in different sectors have the same kinds of challenges and struggle to address them effectively. There's no need to reinvent the wheel, we have a lot of knowledge in house through research and practical experience in setting up diversity in business. I hope that companies in other sectors will look at the world of asset management in a few years and think: they've got it right, we want that too. Just watch out!"
Are you interested in Diversity Project Europe and how your organization can be a part of it? Get in touch.
