The Monticello team attended the SIFMA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Leadership Summit, including “The Cost of Inequity,” “A Conversation with Regulators,” and a “Congressional Discussion.” These events focused on how diversity and inclusion are imperative to the future of the industry and what actions firms can take to move in the right direction. From the root causes of inequity to the push coming from Millennials and Gen Z, these events tackled not only how important diversity is, but also the implications.
In “The Cost of Inequity,” Jamila Abston, Janie Mines, and Ellen Zentner discussed how firms are addressing studies showing inequities across gender and racial lines. The main areas of focus for these firms are sustainable investing, which is now focusing more on racial inequality and the wealth gap, and reducing the unemployment rate as much as possible, which ensures that even the most underserved populations are employed and have an income. It is also clear that the root causes need to be addressed to solve the gap, including access to education and levels of higher education.
Throughout the summit, participants discussed how the demographics of the country are changing and how the expectations of the majority are changing with it. Millennials and Gen Z are a much larger group than Baby Boomers. Therefore, leaving out these groups is not an option if we want to succeed as a nation. These generations want higher education, home ownership, and full-time employment. They demand diversity in their workplace and government, and will be looking for jobs and investing with this in mind. Gen Y and Z expect diversity and have the tools at their disposal to be aware of their environment and influence it.
Some agreed-upon best practices for firms, regulators, and governmental bodies included:
· Make senior leadership positions available to a more diverse group of candidates, in order to start diversity at the top.
· Be intentional about diversity. It is not sufficient to act “colorblind” when the root of the issue is not being addressed.
· Ensure your practices to increase diversity are transparent to set an example in the field.
· Establish a diversity office. It is difficult to back up a statement that your firm or government body is committed to diversity without full-time resources dedicated to it.
Firms, regulators, and governmental figures also agreed that the future of DEI will focus on:
· Accountability for moving diversity forward within each firm, including diversity starting at the senior level and being implemented at all levels.
· Congress and regulators taking on diversity as a main focus in order to meet the call of the younger generation and reflect the changing population.
· The role of Congress in encouraging the private sector to prioritize diversity is to model best practices and ensure assets are going to support these causes, including awarding government contracts to minority-owned businesses.