New research reveals that professional trustee (PT) firms are playing a critical ‘catalysing’ role in improving diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) on UK pension scheme boards.
On the whole, pension trustee boards remain overwhelmingly male, over the age of 45, and with a tertiary education: with over 60% of members male and two in five sit on boards where half the board are 46 to 60 years old, research by Cardano shows.
On top of this, 70% say that four out of every five board members have tertiary education, that is to say to a university level.
In contrast to traditional pension scheme boards, the research found that PT firms appear generally more diverse, particularly in terms of age and gender.
More than a third of PT firms (36%) report that more than 40% of their trustees are female.
A quarter of schemes with professional trustees say the same, highlighting that professional trustees are helping the schemes they work with increase diverse representation.
PT firms also have better age diversity than scheme boards, with one in five reporting that more than 40% of board members are below the age of 45.
PT firms are also driving DEI training and implementing zero tolerance policies. More than half of PT firms (54%) have conducted or are planning to arrange diversity and inclusion training as part of their efforts to improve DEI, while 38% have established a formal zero-tolerance policy for harassment or bullying
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