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Voices of RPIA
In Our Work
A CLOSER LOOK: WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE RPIA’S ESG Committee Q&A
Lubna Reda - Manager, Client Engagement (Moderator) Ozioma Nwankwo - Associate, Client Engagement Aaron Young - Associate Portfolio Manager
Lubna Reda: ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) factors have become more mainstream in recent years, and was especially accelerated by the impact of COVID-19. We’ve seen record high green bond and sustainability- linked bond issuances by companies all over the world and the rise of social bonds. We’ve spoken about our carbon-related initiatives before in our 2020 Sustainability Report and other articles, but today, we want to talk more about the S in ESG. Ozioma Nwankwo and Aaron Young from our ESG Committee have done extensive research on social topics, particularly about Women in the Workplace. I had the opportunity to ask them questions about what this issue means for responsible investing, our investment process, and our firm. 1. Tell me about the importance of gender diversity in the workplace at a
high level and how increasing diversity affects corporations.
Ozioma Nwankwo: Gender inequality is one of the most pressing issues faced by society. In light of the social progress made over the last few decades, we see more and more data pointing to the need to address this issue globally. The United Nations has listed the achievement of gender equality as one of their Sustainable Development Goals. At a more specific corporate level, it is becoming more apparent how gender diversity within a corporation truly does bolster performance. In May 2020, McKinsey & Company published an incredibly insightful article: “Diversity Wins: How inclusion matters.” This was the third report in a series investigating the business case for workplace diversity. They found that now
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