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We recognise the importance of achieving better gender diversity at 3i and believe we are making reasonable progress in that respect, within the constraints of a small organisation with modest staff turnover. Of the 23 new hires we made during the year, 13 were female and 10 were male1 .
As at 31 March 2024, 3i’s total of 249 employees was broken down as follows, based on biological sex1 :
1 Note that we refer to “female” and “male” when discussing biological sex and to “women” and “men” when discussing gender. The information of biological sex is gathered through employees’ legal documents shared with us.
2 Senior managers include Simon Borrows, James Hatchley and Jasi Halai, our Chief Executive, Group Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer, who are also Board members. This disclosure is based on the criteria set out in Section 414C of the Companies Act 2006. This data is different to the data provided for the FTSE Women’s Leader review which defines senior management as a level below Executive Committee (excluding personal assistants and administrative staff). Using that definition, out of 61 senior managers, 15 were female while 46 were male as at 31 March 2024
Gender diversity has long been a challenge in the investment industry. According to the BVCA and Level 20 Diversity & Inclusion Report 2023, there have been positive developments, but progress towards gender parity remains slow across the industry: women made up 40% of the UK private equity and venture capital workforce in 2022 (38% in 2021), but only 24% of UK investment team professionals (20% in 2020). Slow progress towards gender parity has been largely attributed to: (i) a narrow talent pool, as typical feeder industries (such as investment banking, accounting and consulting) remain male-dominated, particularly at more senior levels; (ii) a perception of poor work/life balance, both in the investment industry and feeder industries; and (iii) a lack of relevant role models.
A substantial improvement in gender diversity in our industry will take many years, and will only be achieved through a multi-pronged approach which will include grass-roots education and advocacy work in schools and universities, for example, as well as positive action taken by us and other investment firms on recruitment, flexible working and parental policies. In addition to focusing on diversity in our recruitment processes and continuing our mentoring programme, we also offer reasonable flexibility at work and a range of family-friendly policies, the details of which can be found on our website. For example, as part of family-friendly benefits in the UK, we provide maternity and paternity leave, adoption leave, an option for shared paternal leave as well as bereavement and compassionate leave. Our HR team periodically reviews our polices and legal requirements to ensure they are competitive and compliant with local practices.
We continue our contribution to industry-wide work and advocacy on gender parity through a number of industry associations and by participating in forums and initiatives that promote the advancement of women in the investment sector.
3i is a member of Level 20 in the UK. We also recently joined Synergist Network, the US national network of women in investing, focused on connecting women in the first decade of their investing careers and providing them with the infrastructure and network critical for long-term success.
We also have signed up two members of our Professional Services team to WeQual, a global, peer-led community for large organisations seeking to support, connect and develop their women leaders.
Level 20 is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to improving gender diversity in the European private equity industry. It is sponsored by over 120 private equity firms. Its ambition is for women to hold 20% of senior positions in this industry. It works to empower women who already work within the industry, encourage new talent to join and provide leadership teams with insight and best practice solutions to help them address current gender imbalances within the industry and their firms. It aims to achieve its goals through four key pillars of activity:
For more information, visit Level20's website
GAIN (Girls Are INvestors) is a community of investors, with charitable status, set to improve gender diversity in investment management by building a talent pipeline of entry-level female and non-binary candidates. GAIN aims to inform young women with online resources and to inspire them with a strong network of relevant role models, who speak in high schools and universities around the UK and feature on its online channels, delivering compelling and high-impact messages on the many benefits of investing as a career. Among the initiatives managed by GAIN is a summer GAIN empower investment internship programme, open to women and non-binary students across the UK. 3i was one of 98 firms participating in the 2023 summer internship programme, taking on three interns for paid internships. We will renew our participation in the scheme with three further interns joining 3i’s investment teams for paid internships in the summer of 2024. In addition to the internship programme, a number of our employees are taking part in the GAIN 1-2-1 mentoring programme, both as mentors and mentees.
For more information, visit GAIN's website
We continue to make progress towards the fair representation of ethnic minorities within our organisation.
As at 31 March 2024, approximately 15% of 3i’s total UK employees declared to have an ethnic minority (excluding white minority) background. This statistic is based on the responses to a DE&I survey we carried out for our existing UK employees at the beginning of 2023 and among new joiners on an ongoing basis. The proportion of our UK-based employees from an ethnic minority (excluding white minority) background in mid to higher salary brackets was approximately 16%.
We are committed to advocating for better representation of ethnic minorities in our industry and have been participating in the #10000BlackInterns (formerly #100BlackInterns) initiative organised by the 10000 Interns Foundation since 2021.
3i has partnered with the 10,000 Interns Foundation since it was first established in 2021 to help transform the horizons and prospects of young black people in the UK. The #10000BlackInterns initiative seeks to offer 2,000 paid internships to black students and graduates each year for five consecutive years. The initiative has partnered up with firms across over 30 sectors, delivering internships across a range of business functions. Since its launch, the programme has garnered great support with over 500 companies offering internships to black students in the UK as a way of attracting a more diverse range of talent to their sectors. We welcomed two students for paid internships in our investment teams in each of the summers of 2021 and 2022 and one student in the summer of 2023. We look forward to welcoming another student for a paid internship in 2024.
For more information visit the 10000internsfoundation website