NEPC's 2021 DEI Progress Report

NEPC’s second annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Progress Report tracks the progress in 2021 of diversity and inclusion efforts across several areas of NEPC’s business.

The first annually-produced report of its kind for the investment consulting industry, the report tracks annual progress against the firm’s data-driven Diverse Manager Policy goals and reaffirms NEPC’s belief that investment consultants play a significant role in the financial industry’s quest to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in all its forms.

Highlights from this year’s report include:

• Increasing Diversity in NEPC’s Talent Pipeline
  • 58% of new hires come from diverse backgrounds
  • 37% of all 2021 new hires are gender diverse, up 6% from 2020
  • 30% of NEPC partners are from diverse backgrounds
  • NEPC launched a new MBA Rotational Program to recruit diverse candidates to participate in a summer intern experience at the firm. Half of all 2021 interns have accepted offers to join NEPC on a permanent basis.

• Increasing Diversity in NEPC’s Recommended Strategies
  • In 2021, NEPC launched its Explorer Program, a platform to identify and engage with diverse-owned and -led investment management firms that are not currently 1- or 2-rated by NEPC.
  • The firm increased its vetting of diverse managers by almost 30% in 2021, largely due to initiatives like the Explorer Program.
  • NEPC completed a total of 315 meetings with diverse firms over the past two years, significantly surpassing the goal of 132 meetings outlined in NEPC’s Diverse Manager Policy
  • 59% of all NEPC clients currently use diverse managers in their portfolios, and 188 client strategies are fully managed by diverse firms. This equates to $40.7 billion in client assets allocated to diverse firms.

For more information about NEPC’s sustainable solutions like its Impact Investing Committee and Diverse Manager Committee, click here. Download the full 2021 DEI Progress Report below.