Eurosif's JEDI Community of Practice
The Eurosif's JEDI Community of Practice was a finalist for the Impact Award at the European Association Awards 2024. In this article, Eurosif presents how it promotes Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) in asset management through structured sessions and resources.
Eurosif developed and supported a community of practice that aims to help asset managers and asset owners gain a greater understanding of how to promote Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) through their investments and in their organizations. Specific focus was put on building diversity and inclusion from a wide perspective, including ethnic background, and developing an understanding of the notion of climate justice.
Sessions' Structure and Focus
Sessions from the community of practice are designed as a monthly, informal, invitation-only online forum under the Chatham House Rule for a diverse panel of asset managers/owners, mainly from Europe but also from the United States and Asia.
During these meetings, they discuss and share best practices regarding investments through a JEDI lens. They are structured around an expert's presentation followed by a Q&A session encouraging open discussions between speakers and participants.
Developing and Promoting the Community of Practice
To help raise awareness, knowledge, and to provide support for developing these practices, Eurosif established a dedicated webpage with relevant resources, papers, and studies.
In addition, Eurosif conducted several podcast interviews focusing respectively on the issues and challenges tackled during the discussions of the community of practice.
Best Practices and Insights
Best practices shared during the meetings highlight the many ways a JEDI lens can be incorporated into investment practices and shareholder engagement. To that end, participants discuss:
Bespoke internal codes and screening approaches developed to select the best JEDI-friendly investee companies,
Dedicated investment tools such as taxonomies and passive investment solutions are either developed in-house or proposed by financial service providers.
Impact & Future Directions
During the first phase of this project, discussions of the community of practice helped identify current issues limiting the taking up of investments through a wider JEDI lens.
These included difficult access to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) related data, which is often linked to cultural sensitivities across different countries, as well as perceived legal risks of data gathering with EU personal data protection regulations.
In addition, EU rules on corporate sustainability reporting do not specify diversity-related disclosures. DEI data-related challenges are especially present in connection with the notion of climate justice. On this front, invited speakers shared best practices and analysis of EU law showing that tailored questionnaires could still be used in the EU to gather diverse data while complying with data protection laws.
Overall, the project increases awareness about persistent challenges related to JEDI, showcases best practices to address those challenges, debunks existing myths, and facilitates dialogue within the investment community. These discussions, mapping issues and challenges for JEDI investing, helped the Eurosif team identify further areas of concrete work for a potential next phase of this project. This could include:
A template questionnaire for JEDI data gathering in investee companies.
Further studies to identify the financial materiality of JEDI investing.
Guidelines on a framework for stress-testing a climate investment portfolio with a JEDI lens.
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