Goldman Sachs Asset Management (Goldman Sachs) and the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC), the trade association for, and largest network of, diverse-owned alternative investment managers, announced the formation of a joint multi-year partnership that is designed to promote objectives focused on diversifying the alternative investment industry.
Among the various points of collaboration, Goldman Sachs will support two critical NAIC initiatives: Establishing the Next Generation of Private Equity Firms Symposium (NextGen) and the Women in Alternatives Initiative (WIAI). NextGen is designed to train individuals who recently launched a fund or are seeking to launch a fund within the next 12 months. The series will include intensive virtual training sessions dedicated to educating and empowering a new generation of ethnically diverse and female general partners. Through WIAI, the partnership will leverage a three-pronged strategy to address the underrepresentation of diverse female professionals within the alternative investments industry. The ultimate goal will be to increase the number of women in the private equity and hedge fund sectors while also providing them with the support to navigate the industry and gain leadership positions.
The partnership will be additive to Goldman Sachs’ efforts to diversify its capital allocation, in addition to its talent pipeline. Through this partnership, Goldman Sachs will gain increased exposure to a broader universe of diverse-owned asset management firms – many of which generate returns that rank their funds in the top decile and top quartile of established industry benchmarks through NAIC’s proprietary database of diverse managers.
“At Goldman Sachs, we believe diversity and inclusion is imperative not just for our firm, but also for our clients,” said Suzanne Gauron, head of Launch With GS. “We are excited to partner with NAIC to help foster the growth of the next generation of diverse investment managers.”
“NAIC partnering with such a highly-respected industry leader will have a profoundly positive impact on the diverse managers universe,” says Robert L. Greene, NAIC’s President & CEO. “Together, our organizations will accelerate the formation of relationships between Goldman Sachs and some of the foremost diverse asset managers. We are excited to be a part of such a game-changing undertaking.”
