The new report, The state of diversity in global Private Markets: 2022, builds on prior McKinsey research on diversity in the workplace to explore diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in the global private markets industry, with a focus on private equity (PE) firms and institutional investors. The findings highlight the importance of diversity of talent in PE, as well as the progress made over the course of 2021, and provides clear areas to focus as the industry continues to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Key findings include:
- Chief investment officers (CIOs) of leading Institutional Investors said they would allocate twice as much capital to the more gender diverse PE firm if choosing between two otherwise comparable firms. More ethnically and racially diverse PE deal teams would receive 2.6 times as much capital.
- While 23 percent of all investing roles are held by women at PE firms globally, by the Managing Director (MD) level only 12 percent are women.
- PE firms’ fall along a broad spectrum when it comes to employee diversity. At the PE firms that lead on gender or ethnic/racial diversity, 32 percent of MDs are women; and 32 percent of MDs are ethnic/racial minorities. However, the “diversity laggards” have zero women MDs, and two percent ethnic and racial minorities at the MD level today.
- Geographic differences are also notable. PE offices in the Americas have the highest share of women in the C-suite; APAC leads in investing women’s representation in the middle of the PE ladder; and Europe leads slightly on share of women in entry-level investing roles.
- Even when they make it to senior investing ranks, women and ethnic and racial minorities may still not hold the same position of power as their counterparts. PE Investment Committees report 9 percent women globally and 9 percent ethnic and racial minorities in the United States and Canada — three and eight percentage points lower than their share at investing MD, respectively.
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