Why the ethics of diversity matters

Tuesday 15 June 2021 | 17:00 - 18:30 | Webinar

This event has been jointly organised by CFA UK's Ethics committee and CFA UK's I&D committee. Open to CFA UK members, I&D Network members, I&D professionals, board trustee directors and wider industry stakeholders.

Over the last 12 months change has been coming fast and, in all directions, and not in a co-ordinated way – this has meant an alignment of strategic priorities may have shifted. Hard decisions to make around diversity and inclusion are not an easy thing to prioritise, but now, more than ever, they should be at the heart of the profession.

Setting targets for ethical behaviour are hard, made harder by balancing the nuance of inclusion, diversity and equity. The new report commissioned by the Institute of Business Ethics called The Ethics of Diversity forms the basis for today’s event. The report examines the case for delivering real diversity and inclusion into boardroom and how to embrace the opportunity to broaden thinking and create a sustainable advantage.

The 10 key recommendations outlined in the report – although aimed at the boardroom - should also form the basis for a framework for investors and clients to help them think about how they invest in companies and recognise these issues.

During this event our expert panel will discuss the importance of ethical decision-making in diversity and the impact that it will have on the investment profession from the lens of recruitment, productivity, sustainability and future investment.

Where recordings are made, these are a member benefit that are accessed through the member-only platform, CFA UK Discover.

Timings

Registration: 16:55

Event: 17:00 - 18:30

CPD points: 1.5

Speakers

Deborah Gilshan, Advisor, Investment Stewardship & ESG and Founder, The 100% Club 

Deborah Gilshan provides strategic advice on investment stewardship, sustainable finance and diversity. She has extensive global experience in engaging with board directors, senior leaders, regulators and investors on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.

Deborah serves on the advisory panel of the UK’s financial reporting council and is an Ambassador for the 30% Club. She is a Fellow of ICSA: The Governance Institute and holds the ICSA’s professional award in corporate governance. Deborah chairs the Ethics & Systemic Risk committee of the International Corporate Governance Network and holds the CFA’s Investment Management Certificate (IMC). 

In October 2011, Deborah founded The 100% Club, a multi-sector alliance dedicated to gender equality and she advises the Women Societies Alliance, which seeks to create equal opportunities in the finance industry for female graduates. Deborah has been recognised for her work on empowering the female talent pipeline and promoting gender diversity.

Mark Chambers is an Associate Director of the Institute of Business Ethics. He retired as Deputy Group Company Secretary of HSBC in 2018 to pursue a second career of non-executive and advisory work. He is also a non-executive director of the Care Quality Commission, the regulator of health and social care in England, where he chairs the Regulatory Governance committee.

After graduating in Zoology from Oxford University, Mark re-trained as a lawyer and spent his early years at Slaughter and May in their London and New York offices. He went on to a successful career in business, managing world-class global functions responsible for governance, legal and regulatory risk management in large, complex, regulated businesses. He held the roles of General Counsel & Group Company Secretary at RSA Insurance Group and at Worldpay Group, as well as senior positions at American Express and GE Capital.

In parallel for many years, Mark has had a successful career as a charity trustee, most recently as Chair of Amref Health Africa and prior to that as a trustee of WWF, where he chaired the Audit committee and oversaw the development of the charity's exemplar new headquarters building. Mark was a finalist in the 2014 Sunday Times Non-Executive of the Year Awards.

Dr. Christine Chow - Global Head, Strategic Gov & ESG Integration

Dr. Christine Chow is responsible for IHS Markit’s Strategic Governance Advisory and ESG Integration. She has 24 years’ experience in investment management, research & consulting, with a focus on ESG, technology and sustainability. Before joining IHS Markit, Christine was a Director at Federated Hermes as the Global lead of Technology and Head of Asia and global emerging markets stewardship, and Chair of the SDG Fixed Income committee.

Her PhD thesis on responsible investment was short-listed for a United Nations award in Sweden for industry relevance and academic excellence. She is a Member of Court and Investment committee of the London School of Economics (LSE), a board member of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN), an organisation led by investors responsible for assets under management in excess of $US 54 trillion. She is appointed an honorary adviser to the Financial Reporting council (FRC) Hong Kong in April 2021. 

Christine was named as one of the top 30 Inspirational Women in the City of London. In 2020, she won the Finance Monthly Women in Finance Award as the Investment Management Leader of the Year (Asia). 

Ruth Cairnie, Chair, Babcock International Group plc

Ruth is the SID at Associated British Foods plc and chairs the Remuneration Committee. She was previously on the boards of Rolls-Royce Holdings plc, Keller Group plc and ContourGlobal plc.

Ruth is the industry chair of POWERful Women and the Patron of the Women in Defence Charter. She is a trustee of Windsor Leadership. She is also a supporting chair of Chapter Zero and a member of the Covid Recovery Commission.

Ruth was formerly Executive Vice President Strategy & Planning at Royal Dutch Shell plc, where she held a number of senior international roles, including managing the Global Commercial Fuels business.

Ruth has a BSc joint honours in mathematics & physics from Bristol University and a master’s in advanced studies from Cambridge University.

Raj Tulsiani, CEO/Co-Founder, Green Park

Raj Tulsiani has become one of the UK’s leading figures in executive search, interim management, workforce planning and diversification. He has over 20 years of experience moving the dial on leadership, talent and diversity and is the author of 'Diversity and Inclusion for Leaders: Making a Difference with the Diversity Headhunter.

As the leader of one of the recruitment industry’s few minority-owned businesses, Raj is a passionate advocate of the power of diversity as a source of competitive advantage, leading a team that sets the benchmark for innovation and commitment to consistently attracting and retaining diverse groups of appointable leadership candidates.

Under his leadership, Green Park has become an award-winning consultancy at the forefront of client and candidate service and innovation. Before co-founding Green Park, Raj was the first ethnic-minority manager at Michael Page, growing a start-up team to £10 million and was on the Executive Board at Penna, growing a start-up function to £14.5 million.

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