Investment and Portfolio
We want to change the way we make our investment decisions to ensure we consistently make investment decisions considering equity, diversity and inclusion factors. We want to contribute towards improving the equity, diversity and inclusion policies and practices of our fund managers and for more capital to flow to diverse-led frontline organisations that were previously underserved.
Actions we are taking
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Equity, diversity and inclusion due diligence
We tested a new framework with two new fund managers and benchmarked their equity, diversity and inclusion practice against a subset of our existing portfolio. We plan to embed this approach in all future investments.
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Diversity data collection
We collect and report diversity data annually from across our portfolio. In 2023 we had a 87% response rate and are working work with the sector to develop best practise standards delivering on our systems change goals.
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FCA proposal on diversity and inclusion
We contributed to the consultation and intend to set targets to enable us to voluntarily comply with the resulting recomendations.
The data
In 2022 we asked 25 of some of the largest fund managers in our portfolio to share data on diversity within their organisations and, for the first time, also on their portfolio companies.
Below are the results from our 2023 survey. The dashboard reflects the data of 27 fund managers covering 77% of our portfolio by value. Overall, our portfolio of fund managers and social banks outperforms industry averages of organisations’ diversity, compared to the wider private equity and venture capital industry, where the data exists
Find out more about the methodology of the survey.
Investing in Women Code signatory
The Investing in Women Code is a commitment to support the advancement of female entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom by improving female entrepreneurs’ access to tools, resources and finance from the financial services sector.
We became the third Limited Partner signatory to this initiative building on our commitment to gender-lens investing.
Learn more about the code Invest in women hub
