Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • Account
  • LOGIN
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Consultants
    • Coronavirus
    • Courts
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • ETFs
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Opinion
    • Partner Content
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Russia-Ukraine War
    • SECURE Act 2.0
    • Special Reports
    • White Papers
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • Eddy Awards
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
    • Impact Investing
    • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
    • ESG Rated ETFs
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
    • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Performance Data
    • P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Future of Investments Research Series
    • Charts & Infographics
    • Polls
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
    • 2022 Innovation Investing Conference
    • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
    • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
    • 2022 Alternatives Investing Conference
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Partner Content
November 25, 2019 01:00 AM

How ICMA-RC Creates Diversity and Investment Talent

By P&I Content Solutions
This content was paid for by an advertiser and created in collaboration with P&I Content Solutions.
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    Catherine Leggett
    Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer 

    Wayne Wicker
    Senior Vice President 
    and Chief Investment Officer

    The benefits of bringing together people with different experiences, viewpoints, backgrounds, gender and ethnic origin, and making them feel valued, are more widely recognized today than ever before. Yet many firms, including those in the investment field, struggle to hire diverse talent and, once hired, struggle to retain, empower and promote talented women and minorities.

    “Diversity and inclusion are part of the fabric of who we are,” said Catherine Leggett, ICMA-RC’s senior vice president and chief human resources officer. “We want to not only make sure that our organization is diverse, but that it represents the public employees we serve, including different races, genders, ages and those with disabilities. We don’t have quotas, but we are purposeful about seeking diversity in our workforce and ensuring that those we hire have a voice in the decision-making process.”

    Download Now
    Advertorial PDF >

    As of June 2019, women and people of color represented more than half of ICMA-RC’s workforce and held key positions in core areas, including technology, compliance and legal affairs. Women represent half of the firm’s internal management team, and ICMA-RC’s board chair, Peggy Merriss, guides a board that is comprised of two-thirds women and minorities.

    In addition, women hold key investment positions at ICMA-RC. They include Managing Vice President Karen Chong-Wulff, who leads the fixed-income division and its flagship stable value fund, which as of June 30 had $10.3 billion in assets; and Xin Zhou, a director and senior fund manager in the fixed-income department. Alternative investments is headed by Managing Vice President Flora Li Hendrick. Altogether, as of June 30, 43% of the people in investments are women and minorities.

    “I think there are special challenges in the financial services industry,” said Leggett. “You have to be intentional in your recruiting efforts to find candidates in this field who have excellent skills and knowledge while also being diverse. The great news is that talented women and people of color are out there and can help our clients and the organization thrive.”

    Hiring’s Just Part of the puzzle

    Wayne Wicker, senior vice president and chief investment officer of Vantagepoint Investment Advisers and ICMA-RC, said that his organization focuses relentlessly on pursuing the best talent available, wherever it can be found.

    But hiring talent is only part of the puzzle. Wicker said he seeks to empower and motivate his team as well. “My attitude is that you want to surround yourself with really smart people, provide a collegial environment where people have autonomy and promote collaboration with one another in a team-oriented environment,” he said. “People who own their responsibilities make better decisions. They’re happier in their work and more productive.”

    Wicker said he expects his team members to want to progress in their careers. For example, he once hired a woman for a new risk management position. She excelled in that role and learned so much working collaboratively with the equity and fixed-income groups that she was promoted to manage a fixed-income portfolio. Today, she’s a star performer. Another individual started out in ICMA-RC’s third-party mutual fund group and now manages one of the firm’s in-house equity portfolios.

    “A key responsibility of our team leaders is to provide upward mobility to all our associates,” Wicker said. “That’s not true at every organization.”

    ‘We don’t just talk about diversity, we live it.’

    ICMA-RC’s diverse, inclusive work environment brings together motivated, highly engaged people with the autonomy to solve problems and add value. And it’s good for ICMA-RC’s investment clients, Wicker said, since a diverse, empowered team makes better decisions.

    “We’re looking for really bright and experienced individuals who have had a diverse range of experiences, whether that’s different academic backgrounds or employment histories or personal experiences,” he said. “That broad range of experiences and backgrounds contributes to more informed decisions, especially when you’re working in a team setting where everyone feels free to participate.”

    ICMA-RC supports its employees with a wide range of benefits, including employee affinity groups that bring together individuals with similar interests or backgrounds from across the organization. There’s a mentoring program designed to give high-potential new hires the relationships and tools they need to become leaders.

    “We don’t just talk about diversity and inclusion, we live it,” Leggett said, adding that one key to success has been that ICMA-RC’s top executives are committed to diversity and inclusion.

    “You have to have a CEO and a senior team that believe in the value of different voices. If [diversity] is driven by HR alone, it will fail,” she said. “My advice is to get your senior team on board. Get them to understand the value of diversity and inclusion — and be intentional about it.” •

    This sponsored content is published by the P&I Content Solutions Group, a division of Pensions & Investments. The content was not produced by the editors of Pensions & Investments and www.pionline.com and does not represent the views of the publication or its parent company, Crain Communications Inc.






    ICMA logo


    ICMA-RC
    777 North Capitol Street, NE
    Washington, DC 20002
    Icmarc.org


    Angela Montez
    Senior Vice President,
    General Counsel & Chief Legal Officer
    [email protected]
    202-962-8096

    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    May 9, 2022 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Content Solutions
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Consultants
      • Coronavirus
      • Courts
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • ETFs
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Opinion
      • Partner Content
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Russia-Ukraine War
      • SECURE Act 2.0
      • Special Reports
      • White Papers
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • Eddy Awards
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
      • Impact Investing
      • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
      • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
      • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
      • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Performance Data
      • P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
      • Future of Investments Research Series
      • Charts & Infographics
      • Polls
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
      • 2022 Innovation Investing Conference
      • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
      • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
      • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
      • 2022 Alternatives Investing Conference