NASP supports equitable participation and equal opportunity in all business dealings. Part of NASP’s objectives is to foster the inclusion and development of diverse men and women, and the growth of businesses they control, within the financial services industry. In order to pursue progressive and balanced policies affecting public and private finance, NASP maintains an active agenda around public affairs and regulation.
NASP has hosted its Annual Legislative Symposium in September in Washington, D.C. Key financial oversight representatives and decision-makers from congressional committees, federal and regulatory agencies and quasi-public private sector entities participate in this event. Among others, past speakers include Timothy Massad, Former Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability, U.S. Department of the Treasury; Michael Strautmanis, Deputy Assistant to the President and Counselor for Strategic Engagement to Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, The White House; Roel Campos, Commissioner, The U.S. Securities and Exchange; Congresswoman Maxine Waters; Congressman Gregory Meeks; Sandra Thompson, Deputy Director, Division of Housing Mission and Goals, FHFA; Don Graves, Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury; and Timothy D. Hauser, Associate Solicitor, Division of Plan Benefits Security, US Department of Labor.
Going Forward we will revisit the structure of and frequency of this type of collaborative program in efforts to increase impact, expand engagement from aligned organizations and support our legislative allies focused on economic growth and broader community inclusion.
An essential component of the organization’s efforts is to serve as the voice for its members at the federal, state and local levels of government to advance its mission of diversity and inclusion. There are substantial resources – over $70 trillion – that are under the control of governments, endowments, companies and other institutions that are managed by third party investment professionals. While diverse and women owned asset management firms make up 8.6% of this sector, they only manage 1.1% of all assets under management. The decision making around how these assets are managed has far reaching impact across the economy related to job creation, growth, wealth building and too few minority and women owned firms have a seat at the table in this process despite strong track records of proven success.
Advocacy can take the form of influencing legislation and trying to shape policies and regulation. It can also serve as a powerful tool in urging policy makers to push private sector and other entities to change their practices.
NASP has worked closely with elected leaders throughout the country to encourage them to help create more opportunities for diverse owned financial services with large anchor institutions. Often times, letters, appearances before Congress, and other inquiries asking about business diversity can prompt these entities to review how they conduct their business. The mere asking of questions DOES indeed make a difference in accelerating the behavior change in some of these large enterprises.
Some of the questions that help assess how serious and committed an enterprise is to inclusion efforts for diverse owned companies are the following that NASP recommends:
What can be done to address this gap and increase opportunities for diverse securities professionals?
There are many elected officials who have shown strong leadership in trying to advocate for greater business diversity by posing these types of questions to various enterprises. Here are some examples that NASP applauds.
Senate Cory Booker (D-NJ) writes the CEOs of Kroger’s and Albertsons related to their proposed merger
Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL) writes to the largest federal contractors seeking information about their utilization of diverse owned professional services companies as part of their business spending.
will take place VIRTUALLY September 22 – 24, 2021!
Please click here to see our 2020 VIRTUAL Conference Program Guide
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