Wilshire Releases Diverse-Owned Manager Report

Diverse manager firms are on the rise, according to Wilshire Advisors, which released on Wednesday its annual Diverse-Owned Manager Initiative Report, highlighting the growth of these managers between 2018 and 2023.

The firm has tracked diverse manager data since 2018. Over that six-year span, its study found that the number of Wilshire’s clients investing with diverse managers has increased to 51% at the end of 2023 from 20% in 2018. On a more discouraging note, the firm found that assets under management by diverse owned firms remains low.

Wilshire defines diverse managers as firms with at least 51% ownership by people who are non-majority race, female, non-binary, disabled or veterans.

“The inclusion of diverse managers in manager searches has been a hallmark of Wilshire for the past two decades and since we started to formally report on our efforts in 2018, we’ve seen tremendous growth, but there is still a long way to go,” said Joanna Bewick, a managing director and portfolio manager at Wilshire, in a press release.

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Other key findings from the report include:

The inclusion of diverse-owned manager firms in manager searches grew to 71% from 46% between 2018 and 2023. Nine searches from clients did not include diverse managers, while 22 did;
Wilshire found that the number of identified diverse owned private market firms in its proprietary data increased to 242 firms, a 77% increase from 2021; and
Diverse owned firms manage 2.6% of Wilshire’s client’s assets.
Since 2018, Wilshire has more than doubled its consulting meeting hours to 121 last year from 58 in 2018.

“As the investment management industry becomes increasingly complex and investors’ needs evolve, our annual report reaffirms our commitment to raising the profile of these managers among our clients and consultants.” Bewick continued.

Wilshire advises over $1.4 trillion in institutional assets for over 500 clients, the firm also manages $112 billion in assets as of December 31, 2023.