Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Launches Racial Equity Investing Tool Kit to Help Clients Integrate Diversity Criteria Within an Investment Portfolio

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management today announced the launch of a Racial Equity Investing Tool Kit as part of its Investing with Impact Platform. Investors will now have access to a range of investments and supporting resources to advance the goals of racial equity and social justice.

According to a survey conducted by Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, 71% of individual investors identify multicultural diversity, which incorporates elements of race, ethnicity and culture, as an area of interest for their investment portfolios.

“Morgan Stanley is committed to supporting diversity, equity and inclusion across all racial, ethnic and gender identities. The launch of the Racial Equity Investing Tool Kit is a great embodiment of values in action for our wealth management clients who have interest in using their capital to generate positive environmental and social outcomes,” said Kara Underwood, Head of Diversity and Inclusion for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

“While we are excited by this groundbreaking work and the ability for our clients to invest in dimensions of diversity, equity and inclusion, we also know there is much more work to be done. To that end, last September we established an Investment Office focused on partnering with asset managers to expand our diverse manager offering as well as to systematically evaluate all managers on their approach to diversity in terms of their own talent management,” said Lisa Shalett, Chief Investment Officer for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

The Investing with Impact Platform has highlighted for its Advisors and clients investment strategies that are at least 50% women and/or minority-owned since 2015. The Racial Equity Investing Tool Kit provides additional actionable insights for investors including our proprietary investment framework which identifies ways to mitigate risk and pursue opportunities across a number of approaches, including:

• Diverse ownership: Investment strategies at asset management firms owned by, or with significant representation of, racial or ethnic minorities.

• Solutions: Investment strategies that invest in managers and companies seeking to alleviate social disparities, for example: by providing access to capital, affordable housing & community services, criminal justice reform, economic inclusion, education and more.

• Leaders: Investment strategies that incorporate a range of environmental, social, governance (ESG) criteria, including racial equity criteria focused in diverse representation across human capital, policies supportive of attracting and retaining talented diverse employees.

• Restriction Screening: Investment strategies that minimize or avoid exposure to companies, sectors or geographies with lagging racial equity records, from companies lagging in diverse representation or that provide services that are harmful to communities of color.

Clients, working in partnership with a Financial Advisor can utilize Morgan Stanley Impact Quotient (Morgan Stanley IQ), a proprietary application to formalize their impact goals and then evaluate their portfolio on over 100 social and environmental impact preferences. This can include impact goals related to diversity in leadership, gender equity, and increasing access to finance, education and health care.