Responsible Business
Responsible Employer
Our shared values underpin every action we take as a responsible business. Every employee is accountable for understanding and maintaining our culture, helping us to attract and retain top talent. In return, our people benefit from their development and we reward their performance.
We respect each other and work as a team to deliver for our clients. An environment that supports ideas and diverse perspectives means we can better leverage the varied skills of our highly capable people.
Investing in our employees
We believe in retaining and developing our most valuable asset – our employees – who maintain and champion our inclusive culture.
An engaged workforce drives sustainable performance and productivity, providing an invaluable benefit to or clients. Our employees enjoy a range of benefits and development opportunities to wellbeing initiatives.
Learning and development
We believe in continuous improvement and the importance of developing our people. Employees can access training and development opportunities tailored to them at every stage of their career. We support many employees through technical examinations, progressing their career in both investment management and other professional areas of expertise.
Specialised leadership programmes
Since 2023, Columbia Threadneedle women across EMEA have participated in our Global Women’s Leadership Academy which helps high-performing women fulfil their professional potential. Participants experience an impactful leadership development journey, learning from instructors, senior level leaders and each other, through a variety of experiences.
Since 2023, we have partnered with the UK Diversity Project on their world leading, award winning programme that focuses on developing the Female Investment Professionals of the future. This bespoke offering gives talented women the best opportunity to progress and succeed in their investment management career.
Our values-driven culture
How do we design compelling investment solutions? We champion collaboration. We embrace continuous improvement. We believe a great idea can come from anywhere. This allows us to attract and retain a broad range of talented professionals across the globe.
Working together to deliver value for our colleagues, clients and communities
We believe that different perspectives, talent, and ideas are critical to delivering solutions that meet our clients’ needs and support our communities.
For colleagues
We attract, engage, develop, and advance a workforce that reflects the clients and markets we serve to deliver business results
For clients
We leverage the unique backgrounds and experiences of our talent to deliver innovative solutions for our clients and business partners
For communities
We champion positive change in the communities where we live and work
Employee-led initiatives
Our 13 global, employee-led networks are open to everyone and support engagement, cultural awareness, community involvement and business growth. There are dedicated EMEA-based groups of the following networks:
Black Employee Network
LGBTQ Network
Women’s Interest Network
Abilities Network
Industry Partnerships
Women in Finance Charter
Columbia Threadneedle Investments EMEA signed His Majesty’s Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter in March 2016, becoming a founding signatory and the first asset manager to sign the Charter. Since then, we have worked to implement changes that drive improved gender balance across our EMEA business.
We actively measure gender balance initiatives and report to senior management on a regular basis to ensure we continue to make progress.
10,000 Interns Foundation
The 10,000 Black Interns programme was founded in 2020 in response to underrepresented Black talent in British businesses.
Since its start, we have supported the programme by welcoming talented, Black university students and recent graduates to experience paid hands-on internships across our business each summer. In 2024, we extended our partnership with the 10,000 Interns Foundation to include 10,000 Able Interns, a programme offering paid internships to graduates from all ethnicities and students with disabilities.
Investment 20/20
We have supported Investment 20/20, an initiative that aims to improve social mobility among young people in the UK, since 2014. We provide students who are eager to work in the investment management industry with development and networking opportunities through the 12-month i20/20 trainee programme.
“Through Investment 20/20 I get many chances to learn about the different aspects of the industry in formal and informal sessions. I have picked up new hard and soft skills and networked with other trainees who are building their careers. Overall, this has helped me become a more rounded individual and I am grateful to be a part of the programme.”
Emmanuel
Investment Development Programme Associate
The Diversity Project
We continue to work with The Diversity Project in the UK on their award-winning Pathway to Fund Management programme, which focuses on unlocking the hidden talents of aspiring female portfolios managers.
Girls Are Investors (GAIN)
We are partnering with Girls Are Investors (GAIN) to help improve gender diversity in our organisation by developing a strong pipeline of female and non-binary talent at the entry-level.
Fondsfrauen
We work with Fondsfrauen in Germany, an initiative aimed at helping women who aspire to work in the asset management industry and those who are already in the industry looking to advance their careers.
SHEconomy
We support SHEconomy, an online and print investment publication and community hub designed for women working in finance in Germany and Austria.
Frauen im Asset Management
Frauen im Asset Management (FAM) was co-founded in 2023 by two of our female employees and other women in the asset management industry in Austria. Participants take part in educational and networking events to support their career progression.
