Pensions & Investments' "CalPERS diversity strategy using strength in numbers" reported on investors' increasing focus on portfolio private company board and workplace diversity.
CalPERS and CalSTRS board member California Controller Betty Yee - citing statistics indicating that just one-third of private companies seek to diversify their boards and that only 5.7% of private equity directors are female - reportedly called on both funds to include private company board diversity on a future meeting agenda, and queried CalPERS staff in a recent meeting about its efforts to promote private company diversity generally. In response, CalPERS staff identified private equity investor trade association Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) as the organization that represents the entire asset owner community and that can have the greatest impact on this issue. According to its website and the article, ILPA recently released and expanded its resources dedicated to advancing D&I in the private equity industry, with more resources planned for early 2020.
The article observes: "Asset owners haven't tackled the issue of diversity at private companies until relatively recently. But as the number of private companies choosing to stay private longer increases, more investors are asking their managers about it."
See also "LPs are being slow to turn the diversity screw" from Private Equity International, and additional information and resources on our Board Diversity page. This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!