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Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Assets of the largest U.S. foundations are still managed predominantly by white men, but a new study sees growing commitment to diversity.
The study by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation reveals that 30 of the 55 largest foundations are currently investing one in six dollars of their total U.S.-based financial assets with diverse-owned asset management firms.
The 30 foundations participating in the latest study reported 16.6% of $67 billion in U.S.-based investment assets managed by firms owned by women and minorities. That compares with 13.5% in the 2020 study. Overall, the 30 foundations have $166 billion collectively.
In addition to the $67 billion in philanthropic assets analyzed, 10% is invested with firms owned by people of color, and 9.3% is invested with firms owned by women. The numbers are slowly climbing, with 25 foundations increasing those investments by $1.4 billion, an increase of just 1 percentage point.
It's encouraging "that investment with diverse-owned firms is growing," Robert Raben, founder and executive director of the Diverse Asset Managers Initiative, said in a statement. "While we are relieved by these positive steps forward, we are also deeply conscious of how far we have to go."
The study also said that of the total $67 billion in philanthropic assets analyzed, $11.07 billion (16.6%) is invested with diverse-owned firms. More specifically, $6.24 billion (9.3%) is invested with women-owned firms, and $6.70 billion (10%) is invested with people of color-owned firms. The sum of the two figures exceeds $11.07 billion because approximately 17% of the $11.07 billion is invested with firms that are both women- and minority-owned.
90% of the 30 foundations participating this year invest some portion of their assets with diverse-owned firms. Nineteen invest more than 10%. Twelve of the participating foundations invest more than 20%.
The top four foundations - Casey Family Programs, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Tulsa Community Foundation/George Kaiser Family Foundation, and Knight Foundation - invest more than 34% of their assets with diverse-owned firms.
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