DEI

It’s our ambition to better reflect the communities in which we operate by creating an environment where the best have an opportunity to thrive, regardless of background. Our approach to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (“DEI”) is about our diversity of thought and collective intelligence and the impact they can bring on the quality of our decision-making, outcomes and performance. It is not about tokenism or ticking boxes.

We recognise that we still have a way to go but we’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far. We have a balanced team when it comes to gender, with women representing close to half our collective workforce and occupying half of the leadership roles in our specialist teams.

On the investment side, we’ve affected real change with 25% of our investment professionals now being women, a marked development since 2016 when that figure was closer to 5%. More female talent is coming through the senior ranks, with the ultimate aim of ensuring we have female representation in key decision-making forums across the Bridgepoint Group. DEI, of course, extends beyond gender and there is work going on across our organisation to ensure that we’re making progress.

Becoming a
better business

Progressive Thinking

We have implemented a range of programmes that target specific aspects of DEI:

• Bridgepoint's International Associate Programme (“IAP”) addresses gender imbalance and helps us make our investment teams more equal. Our goal is to raise the number of female investment professionals to 30% by the end of 2025 (and 40% when you exclude the Partner group).
• Our mentoring programmes pair mentors and mentees from across our firm and business units. They highlight and celebrate different backgrounds and experiences and build cohesion and inclusiveness across the Group. Over 100 mentor-mentee pairs have participated in these programmes in the last three years.
• An insights week targets young people from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds and introduces them to different professional pathways and entry points into the asset management industry, to help pave the way to greater social diversity within our industry. In 2023, we hosted 40 students aged between 16 and 22 at our London office, from a wide range of backgrounds.
• Our Women’s Leadership Forum and dedicated mutual mentoring programme ensure every voice is heard and help to break down barriers to communication and understanding, ensuring a more inclusive environment.

Wherever we’ve identified the need for action, we’ve done so decisively and will continue to do so. In addition to creating programmes that seek to benefit our people, we have put in place a company-wide DEI framework that guides balanced recruitment, fair opportunities for promotion and training, as well as family policies that support our team members throughout all stages in their lives. In 2024, our DEI strategy will maintain our focus on gender and inclusion, while extending our efforts beyond gender. 

We also affect change by partnering with other firms in the industry, for example as members of France Invest, Level 20, Out Investors, 10,000 Black Interns in the UK and Girls Who Invest in the US.

By becoming more diverse, equitable and inclusive, Bridgepoint is becoming a better business.