LONDON, Nov 26 Reuters Employee perceptions of how hedge funds handle diversity and inclusion have fallen to their lowest level since before 2021, when Reboot Financial Services began its annual report, the financial services campaigning group said on Tuesday.

More than 100 hedge fund workers in the United Kingdom were asked to score how they felt about actions their workplace took to improve ethnic and racial diversity and inclusion, in the Reboot Race to Equality 2024 report, conducted in partnership with research house Coleman Parkes.

Companies in Britain have broadly taken steps to improve the diversity of their workforces, partly as new regulations require disclosure of data such as gender pay gaps, which have shown finance to be one of the UK39;s most unequal sectors.

Employees answered nine questions about communication, recruitment, culture, career progression, training, mentoring and leadership, resulting in one total overall score between 1 and 100.

Hedge funds in 2024 earned a 64.3 score, the lowest out of all scores in financial services which also included asset management, insurance, investment banking, pensions, private markets and wealth management, said the report.

Insurance earned the highest scores for diversity and inclusion efforts, with pensions coming in as a close second.

Perceptions at wealth management companies also sunk to a fouryear low, said the report.

The report was based on a survey of 800 employees between August and September…