M&G has become one of the first large UK asset managers to sign the UK Government’s Investing in Women Code on behalf of its £5 billion Catalyst mandate which invests in innovative early stage businesses working to tackle some of the world’s biggest environmental and social challenges.
At present, less than 1% of all venture capital in the UK is invested in female-founded ventures, which represents a huge missed opportunity to create growth and jobs in the economy, and to create value for investors. As a signatory of the code, Catalyst will be taking action to address this by helping female entrepreneurs access more of the funding they need to scale their businesses.
Catalyst is working to identify and implement the nudges, or process design interventions, which research has proven effective in delivering better diversity outcomes. M&G will also research brand new interventions to break down barriers that female and other diverse founders experience in accessing funding.
The Investing in Women Code is a commitment to support the advancement of female entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom by improving female entrepreneurs’ access to tools, resources and finance from the financial services sector. The code is led by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and delivered with partner organisations: British Business Bank, British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association, UK Business Angels Association, and UK Finance.
Kevin Hollinrake, Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said: “To drive economic growth, we need to make sure our best and our brightest female entrepreneurs can access the funding they need to get their ideas off the ground.
“While there is always more to do, it demonstrates fantastic progress that such an influential investor like M&G has signed up to the Investing in Women Code. I look forward to working with them to support the UK’s most trailblazing female leaders scale up their businesses.”
Alison Rose, author of the Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship and Group Chief Executive Officer of NatWest, said: “I am delighted that a leading asset manager like M&G has joined the Investing in Women Code. It is further evidence that institutions are willing to take the necessary action to improve female access to capital and build a vibrant and innovative financial services industry which creates strong and sustainable economic growth.”
Alex Seddon, Head of M&G Catalyst, said: “Catalyst is all about investing in innovation for impact, and this is a great example of where we’re doing just that. We need to change the way we think about investing to ensure that no section of society is excluded from accessing capital and growing businesses. For us, joining the Investing in Women Code – and more importantly, following through with the right actions to help unlock the full potential of women and other underrepresented groups – is the right thing to do for our end customers, for the wider economy, and for the wider society we serve.”