The Wall Street Journal Pro Private Equity Features Insights From Ropes & Gray and Out Leadership’s Report On LGBT+ Self-Identification, and Remarks From Asset Management Partner Amanda Persaud

The Wall Street Journal Pro Private Equity highlights that Ropes & Gray and Out Leadership unveiled a first-of-its-kind report on LGBT+ self-identification, containing groundbreaking research about the benefits, best practices and challenges of LGBT+ self-ID. The article reports on the Out Leadership Summit hosted by Ropes & Gray and a panel that discussed LGBT+ at alternative-investment firms. The piece examines how the private-equity industry can foster a culture of inclusion for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and includes remarks from asset management partner Amanda Persaud.

As awareness has grown, more private-equity firms have taken steps to improve opportunities for LGBT people, according to Ms. Persaud. “Progress takes time and the alternatives community is no different in that regard,” Ms. Persaud stated. “But my experience seeing it from the outside shows there’s actually a commitment to getting it done right.”

She added that firms should go beyond having diversity and inclusion programs to try to remove the roadblocks that prevent ambitious, talented employees of diverse backgrounds from advancing their careers within a firm. For example, implicit-bias training can be useful, she said, in creating a culture where LGBT and other diverse employees can meet their ambitions.

She added that smaller firms can actually have an advantage over larger ones because they can be more nimble and more quickly put in place diversity-friendly policies. “They just need to be pointed in the right direction, and realize that it doesn’t actually take a whole lot to address this and be an attractive platform for that really talented, diverse and inclusive candidate,” Ms. Persaud said in the piece.