“It’s such an incorrect way to think about things, right, and of course people think, ‘Oh, if I do good, I must be giving something up,’ but this product is designed to do both: One, social good by encouraging companies to be more supportive of LGBT equality. But two, we found – and there’s many studies that show in McKinsey reports and actually the performance of the fund so far – that companies that have a more diverse workforce actually perform better over the long run,” Cea said.
Component companies included in the index will be rated on how the company’s policies address non-discrimination against employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity; the extent to which the company provides equitable benefits to LGBT workers and their families; the measures the company takes to provide internal education and maintain accountability metrics to promote LGBT inclusion competency; and whether a company has made a public commitment to the LGBT community.
Along with the social aspect, the underlying index also screens for companies that have positive operating income over the prior twelve months.
“So we look at financial factors and social factors,” Cea added. “From a financial standpoint, we’re making sure that companies have minimum liquidity and profitability metrics.”
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