Workplace Equity Disclosure Statement

We the undersigned, representing $4,715,516,371,418 in assets owned, advised or managed as of October 11, 2021, ask that companies increase investors’ accessibility to information related to their workplace equity policies, practices, and program outcomes. We seek quantified, comparable data so that investors are able to compare, understand, and assess the effectiveness of companies’ diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and to apply this analysis to investors’ portfolio management and securities selection process.

Numerous studies have pointed to the benefits of a diverse workforce. A small subset of their findings include

· Companies with the strongest racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their industry medians. Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 21 percent more likely to outperform on profitability and 27 percent more likely to have superior value creation. (1)

· More diverse companies had an average annual five year stock return that was 5.8 percent higher than least-diverse companies. (2)

· Seventy-nine percent of board directors believe that diversity enhances board performance, and more than half believe it enhances company performance. (3)

· A positive correlation has been seen between board racial and gender diversity and return on assets and return on investment.(4)

· Recent census data projects that the nation will become “minority White” in 2045 (5) making racial diversity critical for attracting and retaining employees as well as serving racially diverse markets.

Recruitment, retention and promotion rates of diverse employees are essential data sets for investors to review in order to assess the effectiveness of companies’ diversity equity and inclusion programs.

Corporate transparency associated with workplace equity also helps to attract top talent to a company. Sixty-seven percent of respondents to a Glassdoor survey said that they review workforce diversity when deciding to accept a job offer. Sixty-one percent of women have also said they consider the gender representation of the executive team when choosing where to work. (6)

Morgan Stanley has found that retention rate data above industry peer averages “can indicate the presence of competitive advantage.” (7) This is, in part, because attrition is expensive for employers. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, the average cost per hire is $4,425 (8). According to McKinsey’s research, gender and race are linked to attrition rates within financial services firms; entry level Black employees are 1.4 times more likely, Latinx are 1.1 times more likely and Asian employees are 1.2 times more likely to attrite than White employees. (9)

Promotion rates in financial services are equally concerning, as Black employees are close to half as likely to be promoted to management roles than White employees. Similarly, women are 24 percent less likely, and women of color are 34 percent less likely to attain their first promotion relative to their male colleagues. (10)

Recent research has also indicated that abnormal returns exist for momentum-based strategies associated with improving human capital management. (11) The workplace equity data investors are seeking would allow investors to better identify this alpha factor through more accurate assessments of the scope and depth of a company’s programs, its performance relative to peers, and improvement trends over time.

According to As You Sow, a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility, there is a significant divergence between the public commitments companies make to workplace equity and the disclosures they provide to investors showing how, and if, they are meeting their stated goals. As of July, 2021, 69.2 percent of the S&P500 companies had made a public statements on their commitments to racial justice. Of the S&P500, however, only 21 percent had released, or had committed to release, their workforce composition within a standardized format (as a consolidated EEO-1 form). Only 25 percent had released, or had committed to release any recruitment rate data by gender, race or ethnicity. Only 12 percent had released, or had committed to release any retention rate data by gender, race or ethnicity. Only eight percent had released, or had committed to release any promotion rate data by gender, race or ethnicity. (12)

Investors are concerned that companies are willing to make promises regarding workplace equity, but are unwilling to provide the corroborating data that shows these promises have been integrated into their own human capital management systems. It is essential that investors have access to the most up-to-date and accurate information related to diverse workplace policies, practices, and outcomes.

The undersigned investors ask that all companies ensure that they have made transparent and accessible key data related to the outcomes of their diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Sincerely,

   CURRENT SIGNATORIES REPRESENT
  
  	4.7 Trillion
  	(. . . and growing)

SIGNATORIES AS OF JANUARY 20, 2022

(Be a Signatory - Click Here)

Abacus Wealth Partners
Achmea Investment Management
Adasina Social Capital
Adrian Dominican Sisters, Portfolio Advisory Board
AJL Foundation
Alameda County Pooled Investment Fund
Align Impact
Angeles Investments
Ardevora Asset Management
Arjuna Capital
Bailard
Bâtirente
BMO Global Asset Management (EMEA)
Bonwood Social Investments
Boston Common Asset Management
Boston Impact Initiative Fund
Boston Trust Walden
CenterSquare Investment Management
Change Finance
Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears Ervin
Christian Brothers Investment Services
Clean Yield Asset Management
ClearBridge Investments
CommonSpirit Health
Community Capital Management, Inc.
Compton Foundation
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Congregation of St. Joseph
Corporate Responsibility office - Province of Saint Joseph of the Capuchin Order
Dana Investment Advisors
Daughters of Charity, Province of St. Louise
Didner & Gerge Fonder
Domini Impact Investments, LLC
Earth Equity Advisors
Ecofi
Everence and the Praxis Mutual Funds
Farm Girl Capital
First Affirmative Financial Network
Friends Fiduciary Corporation
FundX Investment Group
Future Super
Green America
GW&K Investment Management
Harrington Investments, Inc.
ICA
Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs
Impact Deposits Corp.
Impact Investors, Inc.
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
JLens Network
Laird Norton Family Foundation
Lazarus Advisors LLC
Le Regroupement pour la Responsabilité Sociale des Entreprises (RRSE)
Los Angeles Capital
Marguerite Casey Foundation
McKnight Foundation
Merck Family Fund
Mercy Investment Services, Inc.
Miller/Howard Investments, Inc.
Minnesota State Board of Investment
Natural Investments
Nia Impact Capital
Niederösterreichische Vorsorgekasse AG
NorthLight Foundation
NorthStar Asset Management, Inc.
Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment
Office of the Vermont State Treasurer Elizabeth A. Pearce
OFI Asset Management
Oxfam America
Parnassus Investments
Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation
Power Sustainable
Presbyterian Foundation
Promethos Capital
Proxy Impact
Reynders, McVeigh Capital Management LLC
Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner
Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment
Sarona Asset Management Inc.
Seventh Generation Interfaith Coalition for Responsible Investment
Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE)
SharePower Responsible Investing
Sisters of Saint Joseph of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia
Sisters of St Dominic Racine, WI
Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi
Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia
Sisters of the Holy Cross
Sisters of the Presentation of the BVM of Aberdeen SD
Sonen Capital
Stakeholders Capital
Swift Wings Foundation
Terra Alpha Investments
The Enterprise Engagement Alliance
The Ida and Robert Gordon Family Foundation
The Sustainability Group of Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge
Tides
Transformative Wealth Management, LLC
Trillium Asset Management
Unitarian Universalist Association
United Church Funds
Utor Wealth
Veris Wealth Partners
Vermont Pension Investment Commission
Vert Asset Management
Wallace Global Fund
Wesleyan Assurance Society
Wetherby Asset Management
Whistle Stop Capital
Zevin Asset Management