Fiera Capital Corp. and three Sun Life Financial subsidiaries are among the Canadian asset managers that have signed on to the CFA Institute’s diversity, equity and inclusion code.

The code was released in February for the U.S. and Canada following a consultation last year that attracted more than 100 comment letters. In Canada, the code requires committing to implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Call to Action 92.

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Signatory organizations announced today based in Canada are Toronto-based BentallGreenOak and its parent company, SLC Management, which is a subsidiary of Sun Life Financial; Montreal-based Fiera Capital Corp.; Vancouver-based First Nations Financial Management Board; and CFA Society Montreal.

Other organizations that have signed the code are Callan, CalPERS, Cambridge Associates, CFA Society Boston, Creative Investment Research, Crescent Capital (also a SLC Management subsidiary), GMO, MassPRIM, Northern Trust, Payden & Rygel and Trident. (CFA Institute itself is also a signatory.)

Together, these organizations represent nearly US$4 trillion in assets under advisement and more than US$2.5 trillion in assets under management, the CFA Institute said in a release.

The code “offers an action-focused framework that helps firms to engage on measurable and proven steps that can help to improve diversity, equity and inclusion within organizations, no matter their size or industry focus,” said Marg Franklin, president and CEO of the CFA Institute. “I’m delighted that so many industry leaders are signaling their accountability to the wider community, ensuring better working environments for their teams, and continuing a cycle of positive change for future generations.”

The code requires signatories to commit to:

  • expanding the diverse talent pipeline;
  • designing, implementing, and maintaining inclusive and equitable hiring and onboarding practices;
  • designing, implementing and maintaining inclusive and equitable promotion and retention practices to reduce barriers to progress;
  • using their position and voice to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and to improve DEI outcomes in the investment industry;
  • using their role, position and voice to promote and increase measurable DEI results in the investment industry; and
  • measuring and reporting on our progress in driving better DEI results within their firm.

Correction: An earlier version of this article didn’t note that Crescent Capital is a subsidiary of SLC Management.