The SEC reported April 4 a single-digit percentage increase in the diversity of its senior officers managers during 2022, but received a miniscule response when it asked approximately 1,300 investment advisers and other firms to volunteer information about the demographics.
SEC received only 58 responses from the approximately 1,300 regulated entities it to voluntarily submit results of a self-assessment of their diversity policies and practices, according to the 2022 Annual Report to Congress from the SEC’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI), which it announced April 4.
That number may be higher if some of the responding companies also report data for other companies they own, as was the case following its last request, for data covering the year 2020, when it received 59 responses covering a total of 118 companies.
The SEC, which promoted the request through a series of press releases, tweets and three lunch-and-learn events the OMWI sponsored for regulated entities during the year, will publish results of those contributions in the coming months, according to this year’s report.
Analysis of its own hiring and employment data showed that 35.9% of the agency’s total workforce identified as minorities, according to SEC’s April 4 announcement of the report.
The report itself showed that the percentage of SEC senior officers who are women or ethnic minorities increased from 48.32% during 2021 to 53.6% during 2022.
The percentage of supervisors and managers who are women or minorities increased from 49.55% during 2021 to 53% during 2022.
The agency reported that 37.6% of its contract payments during fiscal 2022 were to women- and minority-owned businesses and t it had increased the number of its paid internship programs between FY2021 and FY2022.
“In recent years, we have made important gains to help ensure that the agency is a place where everyone on the staff can bring their whole selves to work, make their mark in public service, and rise in the profession, including into senior leadership,” SEC Chairman Gary Gensler wrote in the fiscal year 2022 report. “”I believe that a diverse SEC workforce helps promote fairness and inclusion in the financial services industry.”
Separately, the SEC also announced that it had appointed Mark D. Reinhold, as the agency’s permanent chief human capital officer and director of the Office of Human Resources. Reinhold has been acting head of the office since October 2022.
The office oversees its human-resources programs and policies, leadership and employee development, recruitment/retention, labor relations, compensation and performance management.
Reinhold has more than 30 years of federal-government HR experience, 12 of them as a member of the Senior Executive Service. He joined the SEC in 2020 as deputy chief human capital officer, after leaving his position as associate director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, where he led a team implementing policy for the federal civilian workforce.
SEC reports increase in management diversity during 2022
Increase in diversity among managers offset by low response to voluntary diversity reports from RIAs, as longtime acting director is confirmed as chief of SEC HR.
