Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We recognise that a diverse and inclusive workplace provides real benefits to employees and supports stronger long-term business performance. As well as doing the right thing for its own sake, we believe DEI to be business critical. Diverse perspectives and an inclusive environment promote creativity and innovation, better decision making, adaptability, and problem solving. This helps make Federated Hermes a great place to work.

Although we have a long-standing commitment to these agendas, we acknowledge that we need to make further progress. In response, our Executive Committee (ExCo) and Board have endorsed the below DEI strategy and a three-year action plan to help us achieve our mission.

The strategy is focused on several key themes: leadership, practices, people and the environment. These themes encompass all areas of our business, enabling greater diversity and inclusion integration.

The following activities have been undertaken:

• We have established an Inclusion Committee, comprised of diverse members of staff at different levels across the firm – a representation of the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010. The Committee is responsible for the inclusion agenda and holding us all, including ExCo, to account through reporting and progress updates.
• We have seven employee-led networks: gender, disability, mental wellness, race and ethnicity, LGBTQ+, families and returners and multi-generation. Each network has a minimum of three senior leadership sponsors and develop a yearly business plan with focus on what they want to achieve during the year.
• To understand our current culture of inclusion and any gaps, we recognise that we need to create psychological safe space in which the voices of our colleagues can be heard. We now seek input from our employees through a new quarterly engagement survey and quarterly listening groups, which includes disability and menopause. Through this initiative, it enables us to listen to our colleagues and make the necessary changes including to policies and/or guidance.
• We have undertaken a mental health audit, which is centred upon the individual. Our strategy is to support and enable people to establish and maintain control over their lives. We have a number of Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA) and endeavour to build a healthy workplace environment through the protection, promotion, and support of better mental health and wellbeing.
• Nearly 300 members of our Executive Office and Management Committee – as well as directors, associate directors and line managers from across the business – have undertaken ‘Understanding and Modelling Inclusive Leadership’ workshop. Through this, leaders learn of the importance of inclusion, as well as their role as ‘culture ambassadors’ in creating inclusive environments. This is part of our strategy to ensure ALL leaders and middle managers are aware of DEI issues (including gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation), equipped with the necessary skills to achieve lasting behavioural change, and able to model inclusive leadership in their daily interactions. Our next focus will be on junior to mid level staff who will be undertaking a similar workshop.
• It is important that we support colleagues with disabilities by removing any barriers to their career development. We have launched a Disability Awareness Campaign, which includes a ‘lunch and learn’ from our disability partner, Business Disability Forum. We also have a Disability Awareness Working Group.
• We have launched an educational DEI communication portal, which will equip staff with a better understanding of DEI’s importance.
• At the end of 2020, Saker Nusseibeh, CEO of Federated Hermes Limited, detailed additional commitments for the firm around ethnic diversity. To read his statement please click here.
• We have launched a Count me In Campaign, an Equality Data Campaign to collect data on our employees using categories from the Equality Act 2010 Protected Characteristics to understand the make up of the our workforce.

Looking beyond our own DEI practices, we advocate throughout the asset management industry, and more broadly, seeking further opportunities to improve diversity and inclusion.

We understand that our work in this area will take time, but we are committed to ensuring it is seen as a priority, every step of the way.