More Than 100 Investment Organizations Sign CFA’s Diversity Code

While the concept may be a political hot button in some quarters, the financial world is embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion. More than 100 finance industry organizations worldwide have signed the voluntary DEI Code, an initiative the CFA Institute launched last year.

Organizations who have signed on represent about $11.2 trillion in assets under management, roughly 10% of the industry’s global total. Signatories include the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Cambridge Associates, Nuveen, LGIM America, Alberta Investment Management, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Trust, Northern Trust Asset Management and Wellington Management.

The code revolves around signatories filing to the CFA Institute confidential annual reports on upholding six main principles: expanding talent pipelines; hiring and onboarding; promoting and retaining personnel; leadership accountability; fostering DEI throughout the industry; and constant measuring and reporting of progress.

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The CFA Institute has agreed to aggregate data from the reporting and to provide new industry-level DEI action data, beginning in the second half of this year.

Margaret Franklin, the CFA Institute’s CEO and president, described the organization’s goals in a statement: “We launched the DEI Code because we recognize that diverse perspectives lead to better outcomes—better outcomes for investors and better outcomes for society—and create an inclusive investment industry that will better serve and be more reflective of society as a whole.”

Research, including a PwC Global survey that found 85% of financial services CEOs said DEI helps improve corporate performance, backs up the sentiment that diversity leads to better outcomes. Another bolstering study, from McKinsey & Co., indicated that top-quartile companies for racial and ethnic inclusion outperformed those in the fourth quartile by 36% in profitability.

The fact that major organizations in the financial world are intent in furthering DEI—and measuring their progress—is a plus sign for the movement.

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Tags: CEOs, CFA Institute, DE&I, Diversity, financial services, Margaret Franklin, talent pipelines

Peter Branner

Peter Branner will join Abrdn, the £508.4 billion ($625.18 billion) asset manager, as CIO on May 1, according to a press release. Branner will report to Chris Demetriou and Rene Buehlmann, Abrdn co-CEOs of investments..

Abrdn’s previous CIO, Rod Paris, retired at the end of 2021, and the company operated without a CIO in 2022.

Branner’s hiring is a continued effort bythe firm which rebranded from Standard Life Aberdeen plc in 2021 following the 2017 merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management, to “re-shape the investments vector,” according to the release. “By moving away from operating across a broad waterfront, the business is placing more emphasis on its core strengths, simplifying the product offering, increasing efficiency, and improving investment performance. Branner will ensure that we build a culture of innovation, learning and continuous improvement across our global investment teams.”

Branner joins Abrdn from Denmark’s APG Asset Management, one of the largest global pension investors in Europe, where as CIO he had been responsible for investment leadership and oversight of public and private markets.

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“I am delighted to be joining abrdn at such an important time. Having led different teams and offerings over the years I am familiar with the scale of the ambition that abrdn has,” Branner said in the press release. “The opportunity to help build a business that meets the needs of modern investors, aims for world-class performance, and cuts out complexity, is a hugely exciting prospect.”

Prior to APG, Branner had served as CEO and CIO of Swedish SEB Investment Management in Stockholm, where he was responsible for the overall investment process at the firm and its broad range of funds and institutional mandates. He also served as CIO at Fortis Investments’ multi-management division in London and managing director of Ikano Fund Management in Luxembourg.

“Peter’s experience will be fundamental in driving performance, further modernizing our investment approaches, and implementing future-fit investment technologies,” Buehlmann said in the press release. “Having led investment teams at asset managers and asset owners, Peter is ideally suited to work with our asset class heads and the broader leadership team to develop client-led investment propositions.”