Diversity & inclusion
At Cohen & Steers, we believe that people are our greatest asset and the foundation of our long-term success. We are committed to fostering a high-performing culture rooted in our core values of excellence, innovation, focus, and inclusion. This culture empowers employees at all levels to contribute meaningfully to our firm’s strategic direction, investment performance, and client success.
OUR APPROACH
Respecting each person’s background and life experiences results in our ability to make better investment decisions and achieve stronger outcomes.
Education
We instill a respect and appreciation for diversity by demonstrating why inclusion matters, informing all associates of our expectations and promoting cultural competency.
See our progress
Unconscious bias education, discussion forums and training are critical to these efforts. Just as important, we celebrate diversity, not only during heritage months or notable events, but every day of the year.
Leadership
We hold our leaders accountable for fostering an inclusive workplace by measuring their performance against tangible expectations for building an inclusive firm.
See our progress
Among our key new initiatives: Our D&I dashboard measures our progress. All performance reviews of our teams include inclusion as an objective. And our Executive Committee now sponsors several employee resource groups to provide peer-to-peer support and foster candid discussions about the additional progress we need to make.
Recruitment
We recruit our teams from the widest pool possible and hold our recruiters and hiring managers accountable for building diverse teams.
See our progress
Increasing the diversity of our teams includes partnering with leading firms and networking groups to support the recruitment of diverse candidates and summer associates. We also recognize that our firm, as well as our industry more widely, needs to address the underrepresentation of women and people of color, especially in leadership positions. We have made progress, but more work needs to be done.
Engagement
We rely on strong and empowered employee resource groups to accelerate our many diversity and inclusion efforts.
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Our Diversity Alliance and Women’s Exchange have built internal networks for associates to come together, support diverse talent and hold leaders accountable. We also engage with employees to ensure we have supplier diversity through minority-owned brokerage firms.
OUR OUTREACH
We actively partner with organizations to improve our communities.
Cohen & Steers sponsors the Women in Institutional Investments Network (WIIIN) to help women navigate and advance in the institutional investment industry.
Write Letters to elders of the month, identified by Love for Our Elders, as winter is a difficult time for seniors.
Virtual toy drive to benefit Toys for Tots through YouGiveGoods. Website allows for shopping and purchasing of gifts through the platform for tracking purposes.
Fundraising to benefit Crossroads Community Services in connection with the Holiday Lunch. Corporate match from CNS up to $1,000 to showcase the firm’s commitment to giving back.
Fundraising drive and backpack stuffing for Volunteers of America.
Collect supplies needed by the ACC with donation boxes on each floor of the office.
Firm-wide event in partnership with NY Cares to collect gently used winter coats and share with organization.
Pajama folding party, in office to fold 150-200 pairs of pajamas for children, paired with books.
OUR EMPLOYEE RESOURCE GROUPS
Our employees shape the firm’s culture.
The Social Collective takes a comprehensive and strategic approach to promote a company ethos that instills a sense of ownership, mutual respect and common purpose.
The firm’s Diversity Alliance promotes cultural awareness and inclusion by creating a dedicated forum in which employees are encouraged to share diverse perspectives, experiences and dialogue.
The Cohen & Steers Green Team promotes environmental mindfulness through education and collaboration. Its goal is to deepen the integration of sustainability into our culture.
The Volunteer Committee leads our efforts to give back to the communities in which we work and live.
The Women’s Exchange provides an inclusive forum for women to share ideas, advocate for one another and encourage personal, career and leadership development.
