An initiative involving the likes of Newton Investment Management’s Helena Morrissey and other senior industry figures will look to tackle a lack of diversity in the pensions and investments space.
The Diversity Project will be led by a steering group chaired by Ms Morrissey, who also serves as chair of the Investment Association.
The steering group includes figures such as Carmignac Gestion managing director Maxime Carmignac and Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association chair Lesley Williams.
The project will aim to tackle a lack of diversity across the industry in areas such as gender, ethnicity, socio-economic background, degree discipline, sexual orientation, age and disability.
Those involved will launch schemes aimed at ensuring diverse recruitment as well as seeking to help individuals from minority groups rise to top roles and share best practice.
The launch follows the publication of research last week by Tilney Bestinvest which estimated that just 8.5 per cent of fund managers on UK retail funds were women.
Tilney Bestinvest managing director Jason Hollands said: “Despite a handful of high-profile women in senior management positions within the industry, front-line fund management positions are usually held by men.”
On the initiative launch, Ms Morrissey said: “It’s time for the investment and savings industries to seek diversity in its broadest sense to ensure the industry has the cognitive and experiential diversity needed to be modern, to represent society and to make effective decisions.”
