Wilshire Shares Latest Results, Key Lessons from Its Diverse Owned Manager Initiative

Santa Monica, Calif., July 28, 2021 – As part of a continued effort to create opportunities for diverse owned asset management firms, Wilshire released a report today outlining the 2020 results of its ongoing Diverse Owned Manager Initiative. The report highlights progress, opportunities for improvement and key lessons associated with increasing access to institutional investment mandates to promote industry diversity, equity and inclusivity.

“We established this initiative in 2018, when it was already clear the financial services industry had room for improvement in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion. In 2020, awareness of this issue was amplified and deepened,” said Jason Schwarz, President and Chief Operating Officer of Wilshire. “This annual reporting initiative is one way we are holding ourselves accountable for helping progress opportunities for asset management firms owned by diverse professionals. We are eager to share what we’ve learned to help push ourselves and the industry toward greater progress.”

Progress: Mandates Increasingly Awarded to Diverse Managers

Across all manager searches supported by Wilshire from 2018 – 2020, the total number awarded to diverse owned firms nearly doubled (10% to 13% to 18% in 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively), and the inclusion rate of diverse owned firms remains stable at just under half of all searches. In 2020, 44 searches were conducted, and of those searches, 20 included a diverse owned manager, resulting in eight diverse owned manager mandate wins. Wilshire also found that when diverse owned managers are included in the search, the mandate win accelerates (22.2%, 26.7% and 40.0% in 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively).

To further promote access for diverse managers, Wilshire uses a proprietary software application, Wilshire Compass, offering opportunities for inclusion within the Wilshire Investment Database. Within this database, Wilshire’s diverse manager committee has identified 144 viable diverse owned firms, up from 134 in 2018.

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