Over the past decade, the asset management industry has made real progress to raise awareness of issues around diversity, equity and inclusion.
Across complex challenges such as gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and disability, we are seeing incredibly important conversations taking place, all geared towards enabling people to be themselves and to bring this authenticity into the workplace.
This is not just a moral issue – it also helps to shape performance. Studies consistently show that more diverse teams encourage diverse thinking, which leads to better results.
While it is great to see this positive momentum, one aspect that I believe is still too frequently missing from the debate is social mobility.
Social mobility is often defined as the difference between your life outcomes and those of your parents. Each of us is shaped by a number of social and economic factors – our education, family income, stability at home and a sense of class identity, to name just a few. They determine where we start in life and, in many ways, where we can end up.
If our industry is serious about addressing inequality across the board then social mobility needs to be an important part of the conversation.
Our experiences shape us
I am passionate about this because it has shaped who I am today. I was born and raised in Leyton in East London. I won’t tell a Dickensian tale of woe, but it was a simple, modest upbringing with two working parents.
I am a big believer in state education but it’s fair to say that mine was not the best. I do not blame the system for all of this, but as a child of my time, my ADHD and mild autism were never diagnosed, so I was often labelled as a distracted and often disruptive child.
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When I finished college aged 18, I decided not to go to university – I wanted to go and work in the City. My first role was in money broking. It was a competitive, fast-paced environment, starting at 6:30am and often working until the late hours. It wasn’t right for me, but my first job taught me some key life lessons – being consistent, organised, attentive, demonstrating energy and enthusiasm and learning how to read people. Most importantly, it was about having the right attitude.
After sticking it out for three years, I moved into asset management distribution. Suddenly, the softer skills that I had found a natural home. In a calmer, more thoughtful environment, I had the opportunity to thrive, and the days did not feel so frenetic.
Work is a great leveller
When it comes to working in a client-facing role, you must be a people person. You need to be curious, to have high energy levels and good communications skills. Distribution in asset management is all about the desire to understand your client’s needs, the myriad of products that are available to them and how the broader dynamics of the market are shaping their investment objectives.
These are all soft skills. No doubt your education or socio-economic background may help you to cultivate them, but it is certainly not a guarantee of success.
As an industry, we can fall into the trap of asking for certain requirements to be considered for a role. How often do you see the request for a degree, for example, in most job openings in the financial services industry?
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Obviously, if you are looking to hire your next chief economist then a degree in economics might be a good idea for the candidate. But our industry is made up of hundreds of roles, requiring a spectrum of skillsets.
Some of the best fund managers I have worked with did not have a formal education in maths or finance. What stood them apart was an almost sixth sense for the markets – a feel for certain stocks or the market context and the way the wind was blowing.
All this is to say that by having a mix of people in your CV pool, you are going to deliver better outcomes. By creating strict barriers to entry, we run the risk of stifling difference, rather than celebrating it.
Expanding opportunity for all
Looking back now, I’m not sure I would have got my break in asset management in today’s job market. Without a degree, I probably wouldn’t have been considered for the role – I may not have even felt confident enough to apply for it.
We also need to remember that it is expensive to go to university. Speaking to young people in Barking, an underprivileged London borough, through Teach First, they have often said to me, “how would I pay for it, unless I get a bursary or scholarship?”.
There are great organisations out there that are aiming to redress this balance. At Legal & General, for example, we partner with groups such as Urban Synergy and upReach which are doing fantastic work in this area.
As with any commercial environment, it is so important to build a culture of performance, where good people can flourish. But we must do so in a way that recognises talent exists across all walks of life – and that different life experiences encourage diversity of thought and enrich a company’s culture.
By failing to tackle social mobility, we run the risk of missing out on individuals with great potential, who might not naturally fit into a particular mould. Our industry will be richer and benefit from a diverse workforce by employing a more inclusive recruitment strategy.
This story first appeared on our sister publication, Portfolio Adviser
