The Financial Impact of Diversity

Introduction

Our world thrives on thousands of kinds of diversity — creatures, habitats, biomes, plants, microorganisms, races, religions, experiences, preferences. Business and finance thrive on diversity, too, and though the value it brings has often gone unrecognized, the world of finance is waking up to it — slowly, but surely.

The simplest way to understand the value of diversity in business and finance is in terms of group decision-making. Groups that bring multiple points of view, different experiences and diverse skills to the task are usually able to make better decisions than more homogeneous groups, which are often subject to the perils of groupthink. Over and over, the value of diversity in the quality and thoroughness of decision-making has been proved, including in financial and corporate decision-making.