








Starting in 2010, Knight Foundation embarked on an effort to diversify its endowment holdings. As of June 30, 2018, the foundation had invested $830 million with diverse-owned firms, representing 36 percent of its endowment. Below, read more research, insights and news on diversity in asset management.
Woman- and minority-owned firms currently manage 39% of the Knight Foundation endowment

Since 2010, Knight Foundation has intentionally sought diversity in the ownership of the asset management firms where it invests. As of December 31, 2019, the foundation had invested $875 million with firms that are substantially- or majority-owned by women or minorities, representing 39 percent of its endowment.
RESEARCH
Diversity of Asset Managers in Philanthropy
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Diversifying Investments: A Study of Ownership Diversity and Performance in the Asset Management Industry
Research across a multitude of fields and industries has identified the potential economic and social benefits of diversity. Yet the asset management industry continues to struggle with a lack of diversity. […]
Diversifying Investments
A study of ownership diversity in the asset management industry
REFLECTIONS FROM THE FIELD
Aligning investments with our mission: Diversifying Investment Managers
Diversification can generate better returns
Investing in Diverse Asset Managers: A Performance Imperative
FURTHER READING
Diverse Asset Managers: Opportunities for inclusion
Research shows firms owned by women and minorities manage just 1.3 percent of assets in the $69 trillion asset management industry, though their performance is not statistically different from the industry as a whole, Knight Foundation’s chief financial officer Juan Martinez told the U.S. House Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion. In fact, a […]
Op-Ed: Diversity Pays
Women- and minority-owned companies manage more than a third of the Knight Foundation’s endowment. It’s paying off. Several years ago, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation decided to start investing portions of our multi-billion-dollar endowment with firms owned and managed by women […]
An Intolerance of Failure? Evidence from U.S. Private Equity
In our 2018 Diverse Asset Management Study (found here), we show that the asset management industry is characterized by extremely low levels of diversity in ownership. Overall, diverse-owned managers – defined as asset managers with significant female or ethnic minority ownership […]
- How our half a billion investment in minority-owned firms paid off: Knight Foundation CEOExternal Content / Website