Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We made meaningful progress in 2022 on our approach to DEI, which falls under the category of Human Capital Management in our Materiality Map. December marked two years of our internal DEI Strategy, which is intended to serve as a roadmap through 2023 when we’ll evaluate and create new goals as appropriate. 

While we have seen an uptick in requests for DEI information from clients, most of the encouragement for progress continues to be from our employees. Because Breckinridge is a B Corp, employees help to hold the firm accountable for driving positive internal change to benefit people and the planet. 

Diversity

From a quantitative aspect, we continue to find DEI hiring goals in our policy to be challenging to meet, and the most visible aspects of progress both to internal and external parties. We’ve relied heavily on deepening our relationship with our recruiting partners, and in 2022 they truly delivered a diverse slate of candidates to consider for open roles.

By the end of the year, we saw success in our recruitment of racially and ethnically diverse talent, as we increased the percentage of racially and ethnically diverse employees by six percent from 17 percent to 23 percent, on track to outpace our 2023 goal of a three percent increase. In contrast, our goal to increase our female employee base by three percent is falling short, as we saw both turnover and a lower percentage of female hires.

The challenges we’ve faced in hiring have been offset by the successes we’ve seen in our internship program. We employed eight interns throughout 2022 and were delighted to extend full time offers to three of them.

We continue our partnership with Girls Who Invest—a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the number of women in portfolio management and executive leadership in the asset management industry—hosting two interns during the summer of 2022. We also initiated a partnership with Northeastern University Cooperative Education program, with three interns throughout the year, and more planned for 2023. We appreciate the longer-term placements for these individuals, as it gives us valuable time to develop their skills and determine potential fit for future openings. 

Below is a breakdown of Breckinridge employees by gender, age and race/ethnicity. Race and ethnicity were collected by a voluntary self-identifying survey administered by our director, Human Resources.

In addition, we hosted an intern from the College for Social Innovation’s Semester in the City program, a fully-credited fellowship program that gives undergraduate students the opportunity to spend a semester learning with mission-driven businesses. We also had our first intern from the UNCF Lighted Pathways Initiative, a program that provides scholarships and internships to African American undergraduate students interested in the investment management industry. We hosted a leadership and networking event and panel for students in the program and look forward to hosting the event and another intern in 2023. 

LEADERSHIP AND NETWORKING EVENT AND PANEL FOR THE UNCF LIGHTED PATHWAYS INITIATIVE

We continued our focus on building a diverse pipeline by intervening earlier in the educational journey. As noted, our internship programs have had a keen focus on providing opportunities to underrepresented groups. We also are developing a relationship with local Fenway High School to teach financial literacy basics and foster interest in finance careers. Additionally, we’ve hosted elementary school students at our Boston office. The students were from The REAL Program in Lynn, MA and we encouraged them to ask questions about what they observed in the office and played trivia with basic finance concepts. Our goal with these various initiatives is to inspire students from diverse communities to build smart financial habits early, and possibly even consider asset management as a career path.

On the education front, our DEI Deep Dives series continued in 2022, facilitated by our director of corporate sustainability. During our deep dives, groups of employees review, reflect on and discuss content provided for specific DEI-relevant topics. During the year, we introduced conversations around intersectionality and people with disabilities. While these sessions are not mandatory, we see strong attendance, including among leadership, with lively conversation and positive feedback. We also began monthly DEI Denim Days. During these campaigns, we provide information on a diversity-related topic and highlight related community nonprofits. Employees learn about the topic and can choose to donate to the community service organization and wear jeans in the office for the week. In addition to raising awareness, we generated financial support for local nonprofits, totaling more than $6,500 since the program commenced in June. 

Equity

We conducted our second compensation study in 2022 to help address wage gaps for all roles, but particularly for women and people of color. The study is composed of two parts: the first is a comprehensive analysis of our pay levels compared to the market. The second part is a pay equity analysis which focuses on ensuring employees performing comparable work are receiving comparable compensation. The study was incomplete at the time of this report’s publication but will be shared in a future report. On a similar note, we were pleased that in a year of several transitions and promotions, two thirds of promotions were awarded to employees identifying as women and/or people of color.

We’ve also been working towards broader access to learning and development opportunities to support growth and promotion within the firm. In 2022, we sent several female employees to the Massachusetts Conference for Women which provided inspiration, skill building, and networking to encourage personal and professional growth. In 2023, we’re launching a Management Essentials course that will focus on new managers and individual contributors who have exhibited leadership skills in their roles. We’ve also planned an Executive Presence and Personal Brand workshop that will take client facing individuals at various levels and give them group and individualized training to enhance their presence and impact in professional settings. Finally, we developed a mentorship program that we will pilot in 2023 with plans for an official firm-wide introduction in 2024. This program is intended to build connections, increase visibility of individual contributors, and develop leadership skills for mentors.

2022 MASSACHUSETTS CONFERENCE FOR WOMEN

Inclusion

As reported last year, we developed a plan to review our culture of inclusion with partner Language & Culture Worldwide (LCW). With LCW’s help, we crafted and analyzed an employee survey covering various aspects of inclusion. Throughout 2022, a working group of employee volunteers reviewed the data and determined solutions for the areas of opportunity outlined by LCW. That group also received additional education, including an Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI) which is meant to help individuals view issues through a cultural lens. Our Executive Committee also took the IDI at the recommendation of the working group, as they were responsible for reviewing and approving the final proposals. Ultimately, the group recommended three solutions, all around the theme of “Communication and Transparency” that they believe will create a more inclusive culture and signal a safe space where everyone has avenues to make their voice heard.

We’ve been hard at work for the past two years on our DEI initiatives, and it hasn’t been without challenges. This work is not simply a task that we complete and move on from. We will have to work hard at it every day to make progress along the way. We will not change, grow, and strengthen our demographics or our culture overnight, but we look forward to the work and successes that lie ahead.

Disclosures:
GRI: 2-7, 2-8, 3-3 Diversity and equal opportunity
GRI: 3-3 Training and education, 404-2, 405-1, 405-2
SASB: FN-AC-330a.1