Sponsors and dealmakers can satisfy investor demand for greater diversity and leverage opportunities for fund innovation.

By Tom D. Evans, Kem Ihenacho, David J. Walker, Clare Scott, Jennifer Cadet, Anne Mainwaring, and Catherine Campbell

Diversity has become a key focus for every industry in recent years, and private equity, like many other parts of the financial sector, still has significant progress to make in terms of diversity and inclusion. Private equity lags behind others in the financial services industry across a range of diversity metrics — according to a report published by EY in December 2021, just 10% of private equity roles are held by women.