SEC Committee Meeting to Focus on Diversity in Asset Management
The Asset Management Advisory Committee meeting is set for July 16.
Diversity and inclusion in the asset management industry will be a key focus of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Asset Management Advisory Committee meeting on July 16.
“AMAC set diversity and inclusion as a top priority at its inaugural meeting,” said Chairman Ed Bernard, in a statement, referring to the committee’s first meeting in January.
“The committee will hear from six thought leaders who will provide understanding and insights to serve as the foundation of the committee’s work on this important issue,” added Bernard, who is the former vice chairman of T. Rowe Price.
They are Robert Raben from the Raben Group, a public affairs and communications firm that works with corporations, nonprofits and philanthropies; Juan Martinez of the Knight Foundation, which invests in journalism, the arts, and in cities where Knight newspapers once published; Solange Brooks of the New America Alliance, dedicated to building on American Latino success; Brenda Chia of the Association of Asian American Investment Managers; and Ron Parker of the National Association of Securities Professionals and Bob Greene of the National Association of Investment Companies — two affiliated organizations that assist people of color and women achieve inclusion in the financial services industry.
Gilbert Garcia, a managing director at Garcia, Hamilton & Associates, a Houston-based fixed income asset manager, will moderate the panel, which will focus on improving diversity and inclusion in the asset management industry.
(Related: We Asked, Advisors Answered: How Can the Industry Increase Diversity/?)
The SEC committee meeting will also include a panel on issues related to data privacy and the impact of technology on investment advice.
The latter panel will include four panelists: Stuart Rubinstein of Akoya; Lowell Putnam of Plaid; Eric Clarke of Orion; and Hardeep Walia of Schwab Asset Management Solutions. Walia is the former CEO and co-founder of Motif Investing, whose technology systems Schwab purchased late last month following the firm’s closing. Neesha Hathi, chief digital officer at Charles Schwab will moderate that panel.
The AMAC meeting will be virtual, broadcast live on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov, and open to the public. Members of the public can submit comments on the matters to be discussed electronically or on paper, but electronic submissions are preferred.
Committee members include representatives from major asset managers such as Vanguard, Schwab and Goldman Sachs as well as from S&P Dow Jones Indices, Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, Morningstar and BNY Mellon.
— Check out Edward Jones’ Top Exec: How the Firm Is Managing Pandemic, Boosting Diversity on ThinkAdvisor.