D&I
April 26, 2022

Women in Finance: Overcoming Obstacles and Scaling the Ladder

NeuGroup Insights’ Nilly Essaides and Société Générale’s Subadra Rajappa explore what needs to happen for more women to stay and advance in careers in finance. For every 100 men promoted to manager, only 86 women are promoted, according to McKinsey and Company’s Women in the Workplace 2021 report. But progress is being made, as 44% of companies have three or more women in the C-suite, which the report suggests could lead to gender parity in management roles within a decade.…
Capital MarketsD&I
March 31, 2022

NeuGroup’s Strategic Finance Lab Podcast, Episode 2: Women in Finance: An Interview with Subadra Rajappa of Societe Generale

Step into a lab where innovation and digital transformation empower senior finance executives to become true strategic partners. NeuGroup Insights marks the end of Women’s History Month with a look at what needs to happen for more women to stay and advance in careers in finance. In episode No. 2 of NeuGroup’s new podcast exploring the future of finance and the office of the CFO, NeuGroup’s Managing Director for Research and Insight, Nilly Essaides, interviews Subadra Rajappa, managing director and…
Capital MarketsD&I
March 17, 2022

Lead by Example: Verizon Spotlights Fees Paid to Diversity Firms

Aggregated data shows which IG bond issuers paid diversity firms the most in dollars and as a percentage of total fees.Verizon treasurer Scott Krohn this week presented data to his peers in NeuGroup for Mega-Cap Treasurers showing the top 20 issuers of investment grade (IG) debt ranked by the fees they paid in 2021 to banks and brokerage firms owned by women, Blacks, Latinos and veterans—so-called diversity and inclusion or D&I firms. Verizon is a recognized leader among corporates that…
D&ITreasury Management
March 10, 2022

Right Direction, Slow Progress for Women in Finance

The finance sector is notoriously male dominated. And despite some progress over the past decade, there’s still a long way to go before women have an equal voice.By Nilly EssaidesBack in the early 1990s, when I started my career in finance, I was often the only woman in the room. And my colleague Anne Friberg, NeuGroup senior director and peer group leader, says that in the 2000s, when she was facilitating peer group meetings across the country, those rooms had…
D&IInvestment Management
March 10, 2022

A Starbucks Fund Blends Racial Equity, Environmental Resilience 

The company selected CDFIs for its Community Resilience Fund to achieve specific goals. During a NeuGroup Diversity and Inclusion Working Group session held during Black History Month (Feb.), presenters from NeuGroup member company Starbucks shared insights on a $100 million fund the company launched last year to advance racial equity and environmental resilience. The fund is part of a trend of increased commitments by corporates to promote D&I following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. The initiatives include a racial…
D&IESG
February 28, 2022

Getting Off the Sidelines: A Treasurer’s Mission to Make Real Progress on D&I

ServiceNow Treasurer Tim Muindi joins NeuGroup’s Strategic Finance Lab podcast to discuss his decision to do more to promote diversity and inclusion and how finance teams can do better at recruiting and retaining Black candidates. In this episode of NeuGroup’s new Strategic Finance Lab podcast, ServiceNow treasurer Tim Muindi shares what Black History Month means to him, challenges he’s faced during the course of a 23-year career when he’s often been the only Black person in a company’s finance department…
Capital MarketsD&I
February 24, 2022

Searching for Authenticity: How Corporates Select Diversity Firms

Members compare notes and names as they outline the process for picking minority-owned brokerage firms.Authenticity and shared values are what many corporates prioritize when selecting diversity firms for capital markets transactions. That takeaway emerged at a meeting of the NeuGroup for Diversity and Inclusion working group last month featuring three panelists from different companies. “In identifying firms to work with, the most important aspect to us is the authenticity of the firm,” one panelist said. That means reviewing the diversity of…
D&ITreasury Management
February 17, 2022

How Companies Can Hire and Retain More Black Finance Professionals

Advice and insights on how corporates can better recruit Black candidates and support their career advancement.Finance leaders and hiring managers committed to diversity and inclusion (D&I) and increasing the number of Black people on treasury and other teams reporting to CFOs need to embrace new ways to recruit and hire Black candidates while creating a corporate culture that welcomes Black employees, encourages them to stay and supports their advancement. That’s among the key takeaways from comments by finance professionals speaking…
D&IInvestment Management
February 10, 2022

Investing in Black Communities: Impact of ServiceNow’s $100M Fund

ServiceNow treasurer Tim Muindi reviews how a racial equity fund is making a difference.A year ago during Black History Month, ServiceNow’s Tim Muindi—a senior treasury director at the time—shared with other NeuGroup members his role in launching a $100 million racial equity fund managed by RBC Global Asset Management. The fund’s objectives centered on boosting homeownership, affordable housing and entrepreneurship in 10 Black communities where ServiceNow employees live and work. A year later, Mr. Muindi—now the software company’s treasurer—sat down…
BankingD&I
February 3, 2022

Opening Doors: Giving D&I Brokerage Firms More Meaningful Roles

More corporates are expanding the parts played by diversity firms beyond sharing deal economics with bigger banks.Corporates committed to the long-term success of brokerage firms that are owned and run by Black and Hispanic people as well as women and veterans are going to greater lengths to give these so-called diversity firms not only fees, but more meaningful roles in capital markets transactions. That key takeaway emerged at a late January meeting of the NeuGroup for Diversity and Inclusion working…