By Natalie Kenway, acting editor, MA Financial Media
US President Donald Trump continues to dominate the headlines. What he says, the policies he proposes and, of course, the narrative he delivers are all having a huge impact on markets, but also corporate behaviour.
The narrative of ‘woke causes’ – or indeed ‘anti-woke’ – is also being given a lot of airtime. Some companies have publicly rolled back from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) commitments, others have stepped up and confirmed their position in pushing for a more diverse and inclusive culture at their firms. But the majority have stayed quiet.
This silence speaks volumes. And I should say that it is public silence as while it appears to be ‘business as usual’ internally on DEI initiatives, asking companies to comment publicly is proving very tricky, as is our experience as journalists.
During the past month, I have had discussions with many investment professionals about the US rollback on DEI within the corporate agenda, largely in the aftermath of the FCA and the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority dropped plans to bring in new rules on financial firms – the regulator said it wanted to avoid imposing extra “regulatory burdens” and costs on firms.
Many expressed their outrage and passion on the backtracking we have seen in the corporate world, but unfortunately they do not feel able to talk about DEI more publicly.
I cannot tell you how disappointing and frustrating this is. There have been countless studies that show the benefits of a more diverse and inclusive culture for financial outcomes and society. But how can we continue to push for change, and also protect the progress made so far, if we are not talking about it openly?
Especially at a time when we know companies are doubling down on DEI internally.
I am pleased that Snowball CEO Daniela Barone Soares has put her head above the parapet and delivered a public message in our ‘And another thing’ column on page 51 of our April magazine.
More of this, please. People should not be afraid to talk about matters that are clearly important to them and will have an impact on so many lives. The silence is contributing to the anti-woke agenda.
This article originally appeared in the April issue of Portfolio Adviser magazine