It was rewarding to moderate the “Board Diversity — Facing the Barriers” panel at the Mutual Fund Directors Forum’s annual Conference of Fund Leaders. Special thanks to panelists Duane Hill, Adela Cepeda, and Marisa Tilghman for sharing their wisdom and insights. Our slides and recent blog cover many of the issues that were discussed, and below we’ve listed an extended bibliography of background materials that all of the panelists agreed is critical to understanding the views we expressed.

We have also included two academic papers on diversity cited by Professors John Coates and Howell Jackson of Harvard Law School as they also provide an excellent backdrop for this important continuing discussion.*

Thanks again to the fabulous staff of the Forum, Carolyn McPhillips, President, and Joanne Skerret, Counsel, for including me.

View SlidesView our Independent Director Recruiting Blog

Reference List:

Basar, Shanny. “Ethnic Diversity on Boards Boosts Performance.” Traders Magazine, July 30, 2020.

Brummer, Christopher J. “What do the Data Reveal about (the Absence of Black) Financial Regulators?” Georgetown University Law Center, July 20, 2020.*

Chuprinin, Oleg, and Denis Sosyura. “Family Descent as a Signal of Managerial Quality: Evidence from Mutual Funds.” Working Paper 22517, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, 2016.*

Field, Laura Cesares, Matthew E. Souther, and Adam S. Yore. “Does Diversity Pay in the Boardroom?Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, November 15, 2016.

Field, Laura Cesares, Matthew E. Souther, and Adam S. Yore. “At the Table but Can’t Break Through the Glass Ceiling: Board Leadership Positions Elude Diverse Directors.” Journal of Financial Economics (JFE), 2nd Annual Financial Institutions, Regulation and Corporate Governance Conference (Forthcoming, updated October 7, 2019).

Gompers, Paul, and Silpa Kovvali. “The Other Diversity Dividend.” Harvard Business Review. Reprint R1804D, citations refer to July-August 2018 issue.

Hunt, Vivian, Dennis Layton, and Sara Prince. “Diversity Matters.” McKinsey & Co., February 2, 2015.

Kotschwar, Barbara, Tyler Moran, and Marcus Noland. “Is Gender Diversity Profitable? Evidence from a Global Survey.” Working Paper 16-3, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington, DC, February 2016.

Lorenzo, Rocio, and Martin Reeves. “How and Where Diversity Drives Financial Performance.” Harvard Business Review. Reprint H044CT, citations refer to January 2018 issue (January 30, 2018).

Making the best decision: Math shows diverse thinkers equal better results.” Florida State University, November 16, 2020.

Martinez, Juan J. “Knight Foundation Op-Ed: Diversity Pays.” WealthManagement.com, June 11, 2019.

Parker, Adam S., et al. “Putting Gender Diversity to Work: Better Fundamentals, Less Volatility.” Morgan Stanley Global Quantitative Research, May 2, 2016.

Posner, Cydney S. “Addressing the Challenge of Board Racial Diversity.” Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (posted September 8, 2020).

PwC’s 2019 Annual Corporate Directors Survey: The collegiality conundrum — Finding balance in the boardroom.” Pricewaterhouse Coopers Governance Insights Center, 2018.