Jensen Partners Makes Diversity Pledge to Alternative Asset Management Sector

November 8, 2021 – New York City-based Jensen Partners, a woman-owned executive search and corporate advisory firm for the alternative investment management industry, says that all of the firm’s future human capital searches will begin with a candidate pool comprised of at least 51 percent of candidates emanating from underrepresented backgrounds. It is the second diversity initiative the firm has launched this year.

Jensen Partners is able make this innovative, forward-thinking pledge thanks to DiversityMetrics, the firm’s newly launched diversity, inclusion and equity (DEI) data platform. The software platform combines self-reported diversity data and human capital management technology specifically designed for asset managers seeking to quantify, measure, report and improve workforce diversity. With DiversityMetrics, Jensen has built a talent pipeline of more than 8,000 diverse candidates across the asset management industry, after tracking comprehensive demographic and human capital data over the last decade. With this first-of-its-kind technology platform, Jensen Partners can now deliver large pools of diverse talent from across the globe to meet the needs of its alternative asset management clients.

“Jensen Partners is committed to helping our clients make meaningful progress on diversity, equity and inclusion,” said founder and CEO Sasha Jensen. “With this pledge we are proving that every human capital search can start with a diverse talent pool. Our data-driven approach and proprietary DiversityMetrics platform allow us to set this baseline, as we work with clients to develop diverse talent pipelines and build workforces that are more representative and inclusive of the communities they serve.”

Join Blue Rock Search on November 15th for an interactive webinar supported by Hunt Scanlon Media. The session will focus on ‘Evolving the Conversation Around DE&I’ examining how DE&I is expanding to touch equality, equity, and belonging and why this signals a change in both organizational culture and workforce expectations. 

Moderated by Ruben Moreno of Blue Rock Search, this is a great opportunity to hear first-hand from some of the key players on the frontlines of transformation. They will share valuable insights into what is happening and how they see the changing attitudes to language about DE&I, and what that means for executive search and beyond. 

Blue Rock Search will be joined by panelists:

• Brian Miller, Chief Talent, Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Adobe
• Sharawn Connors Tipton, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Micron Technology

There will be an opportunity for audience members to ask their questions to panel members. Join the conversation.

Attendance is free. To learn more and register to attend, click here!

“As a firm, we challenge ourselves to be a part of the solution on DEI,” Ms. Jensen added. “As we analyzed our candidate data, it became clear that a lack of diverse candidates was not the problem; the problem was a systematic failure to hire them. We fundamentally believe that increasing the diversity of candidates considered increases the number of diverse candidates hired. With this pledge, we are turning that belief into action.”

“It is evident that the need to address underrepresentation is not specific to the alternative asset industry, but addressing the problem requires meaningful action,” Ms. Jensen said. “We are prepared to make this pledge because we believe it is the bare minimum firms should do to address longstanding, systematic inequity. We built DiversityMetrics to empower asset managers to take a data-driven approach to their DEI strategies.”

“For too long, we’ve heard excuses about a lack of qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds,” Ms. Jensen said. “But the data we’ve collected in DiversityMetrics makes it clear: it’s not about a lack of diverse candidates – it’s about a systematic failure to hire them.”

“We know that the alternative investment industry has a diversity problem, and each new data point and anecdote provides added evidence that we can use to identify where the gaps are and make specific recommendations for progress on diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Ms. Jensen. “The power of our platform is that it allows alternative asset managers to quantify and qualify the intersectionality of race, class and gender across their workforce, and then use that data to make data-driven decisions about best practices and ensures that the slate of candidates in any given human capital engagement are richly diverse.” It is a product long overdue for the financial sector, she said, which has had its share of diversity hiring problems for years.

As founder and CEO of Jensen Partners, Sasha Jensen leads a team of senior recruitment specialists and data scientists dedicated exclusively to the sourcing, recruitment and placement of capital raising and investment professionals for leading alternative investment firms. As a former investigative journalist, Ms. Jensen firmly believes that data substantiates an immediate call to action. As a woman-owned business, Jensen Partners was founded in 2012 on the principle that diversity is a critical and immediate need in the alternative investment space.

The methodology behind DiversityMetrics relies on both quantitative and qualitative information to generate a holistic picture of how each alternative investment firm stacks up against key diversity objectives. Jensen Partners’ team of 12 data scientists continually build on nearly a decade worth of data as they compile the latest anonymized intersectional demographic data.

Inequity Remains

While Jensen Partners has tracked some positive momentum on diverse hiring over the last two years, evidence shows that inequity remains widespread across the industry. In fact, a recent Government Accountability Report found that of the $70 trillion in assets managed by U.S. asset managers, less than one percent is managed by women or people of color.

At the same time, a mounting body of empirical evidence from around the world shows that a diverse workforce tends to be more innovative and produce better financial performance. One recent study found that in both developing and developed economies, companies with above-average diversity on their leadership teams report a greater payoff from innovation and higher EBIT margins. Furthermore, even relatively small changes in the makeup of senior teams led to measurable performance improvements.

“Diversity, equity and inclusion is no longer just a moral objective. Increasingly, asset managers realize that DEI is also a business objective,” said Ms. Jensen. “To make meaningful progress toward a more diverse and inclusive industry, asset managers need to view DEI as a core business objective. In our experience, the only way to do that is to add the same level of systematic rigor and data-driven decision-making that is applied to every other core business objective.”

The diverse recruitment pledge is one of several initiatives Jensen Partners has created to help alternative asset managers make DEI progress. In addition to the recent launch of DiversityMetrics, Jensen Partners has developed Diversity Pipeline Tracker, a customizable candidate recruiting pipeline focused on diverse candidates, and Jensen Partners Index, a systematic scoring algorithm that ranks alternative asset platforms based on a range of DEI metrics.

Related: New Ways to Move the Needle on Diversity Hiring

“Our goal is to take the mystery out of DEI,” said Ms. Jensen. “We fundamentally believe that data enables firms to make more equitable hiring decisions. This pledge represents our commitment to help our clients improve DEI at every level.”

Sourcing Investment and Capital Raising Professionals

Jensen Partners is a global advisory, corporate development and executive search firm that leverages its relationships in the investor and alternative asset management community to source and recruit capital-raising candidates. The firm takes a data-driven approach, combining quantitative and qualitative insights to source and place the ideal human capital. In addition to executive search, Jensen Partners offers LP/GP referencing, proprietary 360-degree investor referencing methodology, and compensation benchmarking and analysis.

2021 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Recruiting Report:
Building a Balanced and Diverse Workforce

Hunt Scanlon Media’s latest market intelligence recruiting report – this time focused on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – will be available later this fall! The nation’s top executive recruiters are resetting expectations and looking for new ways forward to build balanced and diverse workforce teams for their clients.

According to executive recruiters, DE&I should not just be a priority, but an integrated part of every company’s leadership goals. Some companies have even tied DE&I metrics to executive compensation. But it’s more than that.

Part of building strong, diverse hiring teams means asking yourself: “Who is my company culture going to attract – and how will it engage people who are here?” This question can be very difficult to answer if you assume everyone feels welcome already just because you do. Fostering diversity, equity and inclusion within organizations is more than just the right ethical decision. “It is one of the best business decisions a company can make,” said Keri Gavin, a partner with Hanold Associates and leader of the search firm’s Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion practice. Hanold Associates is a proud sponsor of this year’s report. This report will help organizations prioritize DE&I as a business imperative that drives greater competitiveness, innovation and business results. Get it now! 

Jensen Partners leverages its investor relationships as well as its proprietary big data recruitment and competitor intelligence market mapping model to source and place capital raising professionals. This model is based on the firm’s global database of more than 22,000 global alternative capital raisers, which includes professionals from private equity firms, private credit firms, real estate investment firms, real asset investors, infrastructure investors and hedge funds.

Related: Talent Challenges Facing Mid-Market Private Equity Backed Companies

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media