The motivation to adopt Diversity and Inclusion (“D&I”) best practices in the alternatives industry is becoming widely accepted; the practical aspects of this, however, remain a work in progress. An increasing number of investors are including D&I criteria in their evaluations of alternative investment managers and are therefore seeking greater transparency on managers’ D&I metrics, policies, and practices. Incorporating this questionnaire into managers’ reporting processes is an important step in providing investors with insight into current and planned D&I policies and practices.
In August 2020, Albourne and AIMA partnered to produce an industry D&I questionnaire, available to all alternative investment managers and allocators. This questionnaire was based on the Diversity and Inclusion section of the ILPA DDQ published in September 2018 and supplemented by input from Albourne and AIMA, as well as institutional investors and fund managers. This questionnaire focused on ownership and workforce diversity statistics, family leave, anti-harassment, and recruitment and retention policies.
In striving to drive positive change in the alternatives industry, Albourne has incorporated D&I considerations into our due diligence process, collecting D&I information, reviewing D&I policies and practices, and empowering our clients to align investment decisions with their D&I values.
Alternative investment managers and allocators wishing to complete the questionnaire can do so on Albourne’s manager portal: MoatSpace or by downloading the word document at AIMA.org.
Hundreds of managers and dozens of Albourne clients have expressed their support for the D&I Questionnaire initiative and its goals, and significant progress has been made by managers. As of 5 October 2021, Albourne has received completed D&I questionnaires from Hedge Fund and Private Market GPs managing over 3000 funds.
We need to gather consistent and accurate data to evaluate the effectiveness of D&I initiatives, policies and procedures. We are proud of the collaboration with AIMA to support this important work.