Move aims to increase the number of women entering the asset management industry
Mackenzie Investments has put its money where its values are with two concrete initiatives to support women in the industry and community in recognition of International Women’s Day.
“Inclusivity has been a focus for us as a business for 365 days of the year, so we’ve been thinking about it in the context of our purpose statement, which is to create a more invested world together,” Lesley Marks, Chief Investment Officer for Equities in Mackenzie Investments told Wealth Professional. “International Women’s Day, for us, is just a time to pause and reflect on things that are specific to women, even though the work behind many of these initiatives is ongoing.”
The Mackenzie Together Charitable Foundation, just renamed from being the Mackenzie Investment Charitable Foundation, has raised $13.4 million since 1999 for various charities across Canada. The firm matches employees’ donations and this year is supporting two new initiatives.
The foundation has established the Mackenzie Together Futures Initiatives to invest in women students and inspire them to become part of the financial services industry. The initiative now is partnering with the Ivey Business School in London, Ontario to launch a new, first-of-its-kind in Canada program, the Women in Asset Management Program.
“The objective of this program is really to overcome the issue of under-representation of individuals who self-identify as women in asset management,” said Marks. “So, the goal is fairly simple: it’s really to increase the number of women in Canada’s asset management industry.”
Applications for the program have now closed. It will launch this May and allow second and third-year students from other disciplines at the University of Western Ontario to attend an education program for a month. That’s being fully funded by corporate sponsors like Mackenzie. The students then can become part of a paid industry summer internship program to encourage them to consider careers in the field. Marks noted that they’ve committed with the school to continue to increase the number of internships available across the asset management industry.
Mackenzie’s foundation has also committed to give $500,000 over the next five years to Canadian charities which provide financial education and awareness for women with low-income and their children.
“We want to support that aspect of their lives where they may not have the knowledge and skills needed to manage their own financial objectives,” said Marks. “So, the charities that we would be looking to support are those that that can support women’s financial education.
“Finances tend to be most people’s greatest stress, no matter their socioeconomic background. So, if we can align ourselves with charities that help women through financial education and awareness, we can hopefully support better outcomes for these women and their children.
Marks noted that the foundation is particularly looking for smaller charities that may not be household names or have access to the resources of big national campaigns, “so that we can make more of an impact within the communities across the country”.
