Lisa Carroll

CFA Society Australia is proud to announce that eight organisations across super funds, asset managers, and consultants have adopted the voluntary CFA Institute Inclusion Code (Australia).

Grounded in global standards, the CFA Institute Inclusion Code has been adapted for Australia through consultation with a working group of leading firms, ensuring its relevance to the Australian investment industry. Since the Australian launch of the code in September 2024, the signatories who have adopted the code total eight and include:

1. HESTA
2. Frontier Advisors
3. ECP Asset Management
4. Elston Asset Management
5. MFS International (Australia)
6. CFA Society Australia

Lisa Carroll, CEO, CFA Society Australia, commented: “We applaud these organisations which, alongside CFA Society Australia, have committed to the Inclusion Code after its first year. This milestone illustrates the Australian investment industry’s commitment and leadership to building a more inclusive investment profession.”

Sonya Sawtell-Rickson, Chief Investment Officer, HESTA, commented: “At HESTA we are committed advocates for a more sustainable and inclusive economy. We believe that more diverse and inclusive teams have greater insight and perspective, enhancing decision making and contributing to stronger long-term performance that improves investment outcomes for our members.  HESTA is proud to be a signatory of the CFA Institute Inclusion Code. It is an important step in increasing inclusive cultures in the Australian financial industry.”

Sarah Maynard, ASIP, Global Senior Head, Inclusion Code, CFA Institute, commented: “The Inclusion Code offers organisations a foundation for embedding inclusive practices into strategic talent management and decision-making processes. There is growing recognition that inclusion supports sound business governance and strengthens relationships with clients, employees, and investors alike. As organisations continue to align their operations with stakeholder expectations, the Code provides a practical framework for integrating inclusion into strategy and accountability — reinforcing long-term value and resilience.”

The CFA Institute Inclusion Code is available to investment organisations in Australia of any size that seek to shape a more inclusive future for the investment industry. It provides six metrics-based principles and an implementation framework for signatories to voluntarily measure, report, and improve inclusion in their workplaces. Signatories agree to inclusion through recruitment, retention, leadership development, and across their organisational cultures.

The six principles to which signatories voluntarily commit are:

• Pipeline: Expanding the inclusive talent pipeline.
• Talent Acquisition: Designing, implementing, and maintaining inclusive and equitable hiring and onboarding practices.
• Promotion and Retention: Designing, implementing, and maintaining inclusive and equitable promotion and retention practices to reduce barriers to progress.
• Leadership: Using an organisation’s position and voice to promote inclusion and improve inclusive outcomes in the investment industry. Organisations will hold themselves responsible for their firm’s progress.
• Influence: Using an organisations role, position, and voice to promote and increase measurable inclusive results in the investment industry.
• Measurement: Measuring and reporting on progress in driving better diversity, equity, and inclusion results by providing regular reporting on the firm’s related metrics to senior management, the board, and CFA Institute.

Furthermore, the firms have voluntarily committed to meeting the following foundational reporting requirements within two years of signing the Australian Inclusion Code:

• Establishing senior leader ownership and an oversight governance process.
• Publishing formal, written, publicly available communications outlining the organisation’s Inclusion strategy, policy, commitments, and high-level objectives.
• Adopting an implementation plan to integrate inclusion within the signatory organisation’s people, processes, and policies.

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Margaret Franklin

CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, and CFA Society Australia, today launched the Australia edition of its voluntary Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Code for the Investment Profession (DEI Code).

The voluntary DEI Code is available to investment organisations in Australia of any size that seek to accelerate change by fostering a commitment to DEI.

The Australia DEI Code follows the successful introduction of a DEI Code in the United States and Canada in February 2022, the UK edition in October 2023, and the DEI Code Europe was launched in the Netherlands in June 2024. Since the February 2022 launch, the DEI Code has been adopted by more than 200 investment organisations, representing nearly 30 per cent of global assets under management. CFA Institute worked with CFA Society Australia and a DEI Code (Australia) working group of local investment and DEI professionals from organisations including HESTA, VFMC, Future Fund, Future IM/Pact, and The University of Sydney, to adapt the Code for DEI challenges and opportunities specific to Australia.

“Qualitative and quantitative research has proven that diverse perspectives lead to better outcomes on behalf of investors and create better work environments for employees. To make concrete progress on DEI, organisations that seek to do so need to integrate principles of equity and inclusion throughout the business in terms of behaviours, policies, and operations,” said Margaret Franklin, CFA, President and CEO, CFA Institute. “I’m especially thankful for the collaborative support for the Australia edition of the DEI Code, and I am excited that industry leaders are seeing DEI as a business priority and the right thing to do to support their organisations’ purpose and values.”

Signatory firms voluntarily commit to six metrics-based principles with the goal of creating better working environments and a cycle of positive change for future generations. The six principles to which signatories voluntarily commit are:

• Pipeline: Expanding the diverse talent pipeline.
• Talent Acquisition: Designing, implementing, and maintaining inclusive and equitable hiring and onboarding practices.
• Promotion and Retention: Designing, implementing, and maintaining inclusive and equitable promotion and retention practices to reduce barriers to progress.
• Leadership: Using our position and voice to promote DEI and improve DEI outcomes in the investment industry. We will hold ourselves responsible for our firm’s progress.
• Influence: Using our role, position, and voice to promote and increase measurable DEI results in the investment industry.
• Measurement: Measuring and reporting on our progress in driving better DEI results within our firm. We will provide regular reporting on our firm’s DEI metrics to our senior management, our board, and CFA Institute.
  

Sarah Maynard, ASIP, Global Senior Head, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, CFA Institute, commented: “The DEI Code is designed to help organisations address complex behavioural issues encountered in creating inclusive workplaces in the investment industry. The working group was very intentional about adapting the Australia edition to resonate better with local sensibilities, and provide Australian employers with a supportive action-focused framework to build impactful and measurable DEI strategies. By committing to the DEI Code, signatories in Australia take an important leadership role in further driving and accelerating critical and lasting change.”

CFA Society Australia CEO Lisa Carroll commented: “With the launch of the Australia DEI Code, what is clear is that the market is taking actionable steps to tackle a challenge that is highly complex, while avoiding diversity-washing. Together with CFA Institute, we look forward to working with DEI Code signatories in Australia to build and develop more inclusive cultures across the investment sector. This will help close the gap between employers that want to act on DEI and those that actually do.”

Signatory organisations voluntarily commit to meet the following foundational reporting requirements within two years of becoming a DEI Code signatory:

• An established senior leader ownership and oversight governance process.
• Formal, written, publicly available communications outlining the organisation’s DEI strategy, policy, commitments, and high-level objectives.
• An implementation plan to integrate DEI within the signatory organisation’s people, processes, and policies.

Read the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Code for the Investment Profession (Australia)

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Notes:
[1]  DEI Code in the United States and Canada
[2] UK edition
[3] DEI Code Europe was launched in the Netherlands

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