“The new investing generations find it more important than ever that an asset manager embraces diversity. Those who fail to attract diverse people with different opinions will end up seeing assets drain away,” Marie Dzanis of Northern Trust said this in conversation with Fondsnieuws, Investment Officer Luxembourg’s sister publication.
Dzanis heads the asset management arm in EMEA, with which she launched the first ETFs in Europe under the FlexShares tracker banner in March this year.
Ever since her first job in the financial sector 30 years ago, she has been a champion of diversity and inclusiveness. Something she finds a lot more support for today than she did in the beginning. At a wealth management conference earlier this year, a speaker cited an example of fund houses refusing to embrace diversity, which resulted in attrition.
“If you don’t change, you miss business opportunities,” Dzanis concluded. “You need fresh thinking, creativity. Especially now that the next generations are getting richer and starting to invest. They value diversity. Companies with at least 30 per cent women on their boards also outperform their competitors.”
Leaders of the past
As far as Dzanis is concerned, it is not just a matter of hiring more women. “If you really want to embrace diversity, you have to be committed. Hire different people, feel comfortable with different voices at your table. More diversity will also create more resistance, discussions. The leaders of the past are not used to that.”
Such a step is not taken overnight, she agreed. ”Weaving these kinds of values through your company requires a lot of conversations about the subject. People have to learn how to lead differently, learn to tolerate and understand dissent.”
At Northern Trust Asset Management, half the executive team is “diverse”, something Dzanis said she is very proud of. That is not to say the company is finished, she said when asked. “We are constantly looking at the current population, so we can keep bringing our business more and more in line with that.”
Buddy system
The company and Dzanis themselves still have things to learn in other areas as well. “The coronavirus crisis, for example, called for creative solutions, such as a buddy system to make new people feel welcome and cooperation with an actor to teach people the do’s and don’ts of online meetings in a playful manner.”
Dzanis explained her view on the impact of Covid impact further: “A crisis calls for clarity, action, good communication, but also for consciously taking the time to celebrate. We did all that. Meanwhile, as a leader, I also found it important to say that I would not always have the answer; as a leader, you have to be comfortable with uncertainty. Of course you have to have a plan, but also try to be open to people who think differently and to people who say: I think it can be even better.”
Under the FlexShares banner, the provider launched the first ETFs in Europe in March - in America, with $19 billion under management, FlexShares is a top 20 player.
These are two climate-related trackers, one aimed at controlling portfolio volatility, the other at generating income in a low interest rate environment. The trackers combine sustainable investing and quant investing.
Northern Trust Asset Management has 1.2 thousand billion dollars under management worldwide.