Racial Equity Scorecard
“Our mission is to mainstream racial equity in the impact investing sector. A missing piece of the equation has been – how do we understand and screen for racial equity, among investments?”
Developed in response to the need for more corporate actions towards racial equity and better data and transparency, the Racial Equity Scorecard enables a comprehensive assessment of the racial equity performance of UK-based companies. It provides a definition of racial equity in the context of investment allowing investors to be intentionally equitable when investing in the UK public markets.
Within the UK, racial disparities infiltrate every aspect of society from education to employment, from healthcare to mortality, from legislation to wealth accumulation and racial equity can drive economic growth. The McGregor-Smith review from 2017 estimates that if both corporate employers and entrepreneurs would focus on racial equity in career progression and trajectories, that would potentially add £24 billion to the GDP of the UK. Moreover, as the climate and nature crises are the defining challenges of our time, racial equity is an important component of just transition - driving towards sustainable inclusive economic growth.
As part of our commitment to driving change, Pathway Fund strives to provide a better understanding of what racial equity means in an investment context. While there are corporate scorecards on gender equality and workplace DEI, this scorecard is intended as the first practical tool to capture corporate strategies and actions on racial equity in the context of the UK public market investments.
The Racial Equity Scorecard is intended to be primarily used by investors, but also aims to empower organisations, asset managers and owners, to capture data and track progress through a racial equity lens.
The Racial Equity Scorecard was initially funded by Connect Fund at the Barrow Cadbury Trust, in partnership with Access the Foundation for Social Investment, and Carnegie. The report and research was conducted by the EIRIS Foundation and The Social Investment Consultancy (TSIC).