In the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Jacqueline Taiwo began receiving a lot of questions from fellow members of the investment industry about what they could do and how they could help.
Having just set up the Black Women in Asset Management (BWAM) network a year previously, she decided to write an open letter to the community outlining some suggestions.
“As Black women professionals in the asset management industry, we call on investment firms and institutional investors in our industry to go beyond solidarity statements and instead commit to action, activism and accountability to dismantle the racial inequities plaguing society,” the letter began.
Taiwo wants the conversation about racial equity in investment to go beyond discussions of talent recruitment and retention, and so the letter included a commitment to building anti-racist portfolios.
“The real power the asset management industry yields is in its investment strategy, and its stewardship of trillions and trillions of dollars, in deciding where capital is allocated,” she tells ESG Clarity.
Read the full article in ESG Clarity’s March 2023 digital magazine.
