DAMI Applauds Georgetown University’s 2nd Report on the Diversity of Endowment Managers

For Immediate Release: August 20, 2021

Contact: Carolyn Clendenin, cclendenin@rabengroup.com, 347-869-7382

Diverse Asset Managers Initiative Applauds Georgetown University’s 2nd Report on the Diversity of Endowment Managers

Washington, D.C. - This week, Georgetown University released its 2nd report on the diversity of its endowment managers. Georgetown, the first University in the nation to voluntarily report on its efforts, now has three years of data to track its progress.

“We commend Georgetown University for releasing yet another detailed report on the diversity of its endowment managers, both by ownership and teams working on its account. Unquestionably, Georgetown is a leader on this front. It is the only university in the nation to release such an analysis without first having a mandate to do so. In other words, they recognize that diversity improves returns, and that publicly talking about it holds everyone accountable. They were the first University to respond to our requests to be transparent,” said Robert Raben, executive director of the Diverse Asset Managers Initiative. 

Raben continued, “While Georgetown’s diversity figures are far from where we need to be, it is taking steps in the right direction. Unfortunately, that’s more than can be said for the vast majority of the nation’s colleges and universities, which still refuse to release their data. Other schools need to follow Georgetown’s lead by owning up to their diversity figures publicly and moving towards change.”

According to the 2021 report, 26 percent of Georgetown’s managers had one-fourth or more minority ownership, up from 19 percent in 2019. For women, the share jumped from 14 percent to 20 percent. And the five new firms Georgetown hired since its 2020 report were more diverse than their average.

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The Diverse Asset Managers Initiative is an effort to increase the absolute number of, and assets under management by, diverse-owned asset management firms for institutional investors, with specific focus on public, corporate, faith and labor union pension funds as well as foundation and university endowments.