Smart Pension Master Trust joins Diversity Project, a cross-company initiative championing the learning and promotion of best practices to achieve diversity within the investments and savings industry.
The Diversity Project’s objectives include reducing the gender pay gap, achieving a 90 per cent ethnicity disclosure rate among member businesses, and supporting graduate and school-leaver recruitment programmes focusing on socioeconomic diversity.
Smart joins Fidelity International, Franklin Templeton, and AXA Investment Managers in its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I).
According to Smart, this membership demonstrates a commitment to establishing an inclusive culture through peer cooperation, shared learning, and activities that address all facets of diversity, including socioeconomic background, disability, gender, ethnicity, and more.
Smart Pension chief investment officer Paul Bucksey says: “Our participation in the Diversity Project formalises our dedication to DE&I at Smart Pension and our commitment to improving inclusivity within the investment and savings industry. From our trustee board through to our asset managers and members’ investments, it’s important to us that our investments cater for the diverse community we serve.
“A good example of this is the recent launch of our partnership with Wahed on the Halal Workplace Pension, an investment product addressing the unmet demand for modern Shariah-compliant workplace pensions for Britain’s Muslim pension savers, the first of its kind from a major DC master trust.
“We look forward to collaborating with partners and peers on upcoming initiatives across the Diversity Project’s programme of events, to promote acceleration towards a more diverse and inclusive industry.”
Diversity Project chair Baroness Helena Morrissey says: “We’re delighted to welcome Smart Pension to the Diversity Project. Now in our eighth year, the Diversity Project is working to attract the best talent to the investment and savings industry and to help our member firms create vibrant, inclusive cultures where that talent thrives. Our efforts work best when our members engage; we look forward to working with Smart Pension to hear their ideas and experiences, and to invite them to participate in programmes that the Diversity Project has created to accelerate progress.”
