The latest news on investing in equality and diversity
New racial equity and LGBTQ+ research strengthens the S in ESG for investors
Responsible investors can now enhance their social impact strategies with new diversity and inclusion data.
True to our mission to close the equality gap at work, we are broadening our research to include racial equity and LGBTQ+ metrics. In addition to scoring companies on gender equality across 19 criteria, Equileap has now added 5 additional criteria on these important topics. Our new datasets will include flagging companies with recorded race and ethnicity discrimination, and companies that show support for LGBTQ+ communities by reporting gender categories other than men/women.
These additional datasets provide responsible investors with valuable data to engage with companies and create stronger ESG products.
Commenting, Equileap’s CEO, Diana van Maasdijk said: “Equileap was founded to create a world where everyone has equal opportunities in the workplace, so we are thrilled to be accelerating this mission by broadening our focus and expanding our criteria to include other important diversity and equality issues.
There is still much to be done. Our research shows:
Over 200 race discrimination controversies in 2023 so far (over 5% of companies in our dataset),
8% of companies globally report a gender category other than male/female.
Research and data are powerful levers for change. This data will fuel engagement strategies as well as investment products with a social justice lens, to align with investors’ values and prompt companies to tackle all types of discrimination.”
Interested to find out how these datasets can strengthen the S in ESG? Please reply to this email or contact info@equileap.com.
Index excluding racial controversies tracks US 500 benchmark
Performance points to how investors can invest with their values without sacrificing financial returns
In related news, an index developed with Solactive that uses Equileap’s new data to exclude firms that were involved in racial discrimination controversies has been shown to track the benchmark almost exactly since 2018.
The US Racial Equality Index Concept (.SUSRACE) excludes firms that are involved in controversies related to intersectional, race, or ethnicity discrimination. With a tracking error below 2%, the performance remains closely aligned with the benchmark, the Solactive GBS United States 500 Index (.US500)
This backtesting points to an exciting possibility: investors can back their values, avoiding companies involved in racial controversies, without sacrificing financial performance. This concept index can be further adapted based on clients’ interests and needs.
First of its kind Women in Tech index shows 5% outperformance against benchmark
Earlier this year, we partnered with Indxx to launch the Indxx Equileap US Women in Technology Index. The index tracks the performance of technology companies in the United States that are making the most improvement in terms of gender equality.
The back-tested over-performance of the Indxx Equileap US Women in Technology Index of 5% over the last 5 years against the Indxx 500 Index is further evidence that better gender equality leads to higher performance - even in a sector where, for the most part, women are underrepresented.
We believe this index will motivate other Tech companies to do better and raise their equality game.
WOMN ETF: 5-years old and in the 1st percentile of Morningstar’s large fund category
Impact Shares and YWCA USA rang the NYSE-New York Stock Exchange’s closing bell on August 24th to celebrate the 5th year of WOMN, their Women’s Empowerment ETF — and we're proud to power the data behind their ETF.
Launched in 2018, WOMN tracks an index built on Equileap’s gender equality scores to include companies that align with the vision of advancing women's empowerment and gender equality, allowing investors to invest in a more inclusive future for women.
Over its 5-year life the fund’s performance has put it in the 1st percentile of Morningstar’s large fund category, large cap blend, with 1,158 funds.
Bespoke Benchmarking Reports to help companies lead the way in gender equality
Companies can now commission a deep dive into their performance and find out how they compare to peer companies as well as to their sector, country and global averages.These reports allow companies to step up to the mark or maintain their lead when it comes to gender equality.
Comprehensive analysis against Equileap’s Gender Equality Scorecard, covering multiple metrics from women’s representation at all company levels, to parental leave, the gender pay gap, policies and more
Detailed company performance compared to 5 selected peer companies
Performance against sector, sub-sector, country and global trends
Bespoke recommendations from Equileap experts on key areas for improvement
Information on which Equileap indices the company might be included into – it is these indices that are used as the underlying for financial products.
Companies will receive a detailed 20+ page report plus an online video consultation with an Equileap Analyst - check out a sample report here.
“This impressive analysis enabled us to compare our efforts to those of our peers. It was useful for spotting areas we need to pay more attention to, both for the benefit of our employees and to maintain our competitive position.” Representative from a company in the consumer staples sector.
“We want to assist and guide companies on their journey towards full gender equality. This new benchmarking report will be an invaluable tool for those looking to make the case for equality, finding out where their company leads the way and where it is lagging behind, as well as providing clarity on how to deliver it.” Diana van Maasdijk, CEO of Equileap
Goldman Sachs Research analysts estimate that even just halving the pay and employment gap between men and women could raise the level of GDP across DM and EM by between 5% and 6%.
Even after controlling for other factors such as LGBT individuals tending to be younger and more highly educated “states with higher degrees of LGBT representation enjoyed stronger rates of growth”.
To learn more about any of the topics in this newsletter, please reply to this email or contact
