Refinitiv has revealed the top 100 most diverse and inclusive companies across the world, with BlackRock, Royal Bank od Canada and Allianz SE all making the top 10.
In the Refinitiv Diversity & Inclusion Index, which uses ESG data points to scan 10,000 business, BlackRock ranked first with a score of 81%. The U.S. leads the top 100 list in terms of countries with 20 firms, followed by the United Kingdom with 13, Australia with nine, and Canada and France with seven.
[More: Diversity Project sets 50% female fund managers target]
Refinitiv said the D&I Index utilizes innovative analytics to rate and score companies across four main pillars: Diversity, Inclusion, People Development and Controversies. Only companies with scores across all four pillars are assigned an overall score (the average of the pillar scores). The top 100 ranked companies with the best overall D&I scores are selected for the Index.
The top 10 is below, but the full list can be viewed on Refinitiv platforms Workspace and Eikon,
Top 10 Index Ranking
| Ranking | Company | Overall Score (%) |
| 1 | BlackRock | 81 |
| 2 | Natura & Co Holding | 80.25 |
| 3 | Accenture | 80 |
| 4 | Royal Bank of Canada | 79 |
| 5 | Industria de Diseno Textil | 78.5 |
| 6 | L’Oreal | 78 |
| 7 | Allianz SE | 77.75 |
| 8 | Telecom Italia | 77.75 |
| 9 | Novartis | 77.5 |
| 10 | Bank of Nova Scotia | 77.25 |
The D&I Index also revealed D&I leads the way with the most culturally and gender diverse boards, and surprisingly banking, investment services & insurance firms were among the top sectors, followed by pharmaceuticals and telecommunications services.
European companies had the highest proportion of women on the board, followed by Africa, Oceania and U.S., but Refinitiv noted there is slow progress when it comes to female managers in the business – Africa leads the way here with on average 34% of female managers.
Even though the cultural diversity of boards has increased from five years ago, Refinitiv reported it has stalled at around 30%, and financial services had a lower than average score for culturally diverse boards with 28%. At a country level, Switzerland has been leading the way with 60%, compared to 31.2% in the U.K. and 15.7% in the U.S.
Debra Walton, chief revenue officer at Refinitiv, commented: “Congratulations to the 2020 D&I Index Top 100 most diverse & inclusive organizations globally.
“The global pandemic has certainly brought to light a renewed focus on diversity and inclusion, reinforcing the reality that we are all in this together.”
Elena Philipova, global head of ESG at Refinitiv, added: “Our Diversity and Inclusion Index, now in its fifth year, emphasizes the critical importance for companies to commit to, measure and report on their diversity journey beyond gender. Sustainable and resilient workforce is the fuel for businesses especially during volatile times.”
