Diversity, equity & inclusion

We seek to promote fair, diverse and inclusive business environments and practices across the companies in which we invest, as well as across our own operations.

We embed these into our engagement with companies:

  • An increased voluntary target for FTSE 350 Boards, and for FTSE 350 Leadership teams to a minimum of 40% women, by the end of 2025
  • FTSE 350 companies to have at least one woman in the Chair or Senior Independent Director role on the Board, and/or one woman in the Chief Executive or Finance Director role in the company, by the end of 2025
  • Key stakeholders to set best practice guidance or have mechanisms in place to encourage FTSE 350 Boards that have not achieved the prior 33% target to do so
  • Each FTSE 350 company will be asked to set a percentage target for senior management positions that will be occupied by ethnic minority executives in December 2027
  • 50 of the UK’s largest private companies have been set the target of having at least one ethnic minority director on the main board by December 2027. Each company will also be asked to set a target for the percentage of ethnic minority executives within its senior management team

The Asset Owner Diversity Charter was formed with an objective to formalise a set of actions that asset owners can commit to improve diversity, in all forms, across the investment industry.

We seek for our signatories to collaborate and to build an investment industry which embodies a more balanced representation of diverse societies.

Diversity at Brunel

Within our own business we aim to promote diversity and inclusion at the highest level. The top positions on our Board, Chair and CEO, are both held by women: Denise Le Gal and Laura Chappell. Brunel has fewer than 250 employees and is not required to disclose its gender pay gap however, Brunel is committed to being an attractive and transparent employer and therefore voluntarily discloses its gender pay gap data.

Walking the talk – gender pay gap

Next steps

  • We aim to stay above our current targets, but seek improvement on the percentage of female representation on Boards for each of our active investment portfolios
  • Engaging with companies on ethnic diversity
  • Encourage improvements in the amount of data available around diversity and inclusion
  • Maintain and publish our own diversity statistics and gender pay
  • The Asset Owner Diversity Working Group, with the aim of improving transparency and diversity in the investment industry, will review the charter questionnaire, continue to grow the signatory base and report on progress