Diversity — How financial service providers are responding to the political change of course in the USA

Yes, the change of direc­tion is parti­cu­larly noti­ceable for US banks and finan­cial service provi­ders. Since Janu­ary 2025, the US govern­ment under Donald Trump has banned all govern­ment-spon­so­red DEI programs with Execu­tive Order 14151. Compa­nies with fede­ral contracts or regu­la­tory obli­ga­ti­ons are coming under pres­sure — and reac­ting. DEI programs are rena­med DOI (diver­sity, oppor­tu­nity, inclu­sion), inter­nal trai­ning cour­ses are cancel­led and “diver­sity” is repla­ced by “talent manage­ment”. In addi­tion, board diver­sity guide­lines are with­drawn or DEI programs are natio­nally orien­ted and/or discon­tin­ued in the US market. 

The with­dra­wal is not only due to legal caution, but also for stra­te­gic reasons: compa­nies do not want to posi­tion them­sel­ves between poli­ti­cal fronts.

Because they know: Diver­sity is not a poli­ti­cal trend, but an econo­mic advan­tage. Studies and expe­ri­ence show that diverse teams assess risks in a more diffe­ren­tia­ted way, drive inno­va­tion faster, work more effi­ci­ently and react more resi­li­en­tly to vola­tile markets. 

Parti­cu­larly in the finan­cial sector, where trust, trans­pa­rency and sustainable corpo­rate gover­nance are crucial, diver­sity remains a central compo­nent of the ESG stra­tegy. Insti­tu­tio­nal inves­tors — from pension funds to private equity houses — conti­nue to expect robust DEI targets. And they have long been scru­ti­ni­zing the compo­si­tion of super­vi­sory boards not only in terms of gender, but also with regard to age, expe­ri­ence and cultu­ral diversity. 

The trend is moving away from symbo­lism and towards subs­tance. While poli­ti­cal measu­res in the USA are slowing down diver­sity programs, Euro­pean and global finan­cial insti­tu­ti­ons are deve­lo­ping their stra­te­gies further. Age diver­sity and neuro­di­verse talent are incre­asingly coming into focus, compa­nies are inves­t­ing in inclu­sive leader­ship, long-term talent deve­lo­p­ment and the ancho­ring of diver­sity in invest­ment decis­i­ons. In many cases, the DEI agenda is being deli­bera­tely inter­na­tio­na­li­zed in order to avoid US pressure. 

The conclu­sion: despite poli­ti­cal setbacks in the US, diver­sity remains a stra­te­gic issue — espe­ci­ally for the finan­cial sector. Those who not only proclaim diver­sity, but also embed it struc­tu­rally, secure clear compe­ti­tive advan­ta­ges in an envi­ron­ment charac­te­ri­zed by trans­for­ma­tion, uncer­tainty and growing ESG pressure. 

A new phase of deve­lo­p­ment is emer­ging: away from over-regu­la­tion and symbo­lic policy — towards lived norma­lity and impact-orien­ted imple­men­ta­tion. Many of the previous DEI programs pursued well-inten­tio­ned but some­ti­mes over­am­bi­tious goals that did not always meet with broad accep­tance. Today, tangi­ble, success-criti­cal dimen­si­ons are gaining in importance — such as inno­va­tion capa­bi­lity, risk compe­tence, leader­ship culture and team performance. 

Compa­nies are incre­asingly rely­ing on a compre­hen­si­ble sense of propor­tion that convin­ces both employees and stake­hol­ders. Diver­sity is ther­e­fore not only beco­ming a natu­ral part of the corpo­rate culture, but also an expres­sion of modern, sustainable leader­ship. Espe­ci­ally in a compe­ti­tive job market, this form of credi­ble, inclu­sive corpo­rate culture makes a signi­fi­cant contri­bu­tion to streng­thening the employer brand — and thus beco­mes an inte­gral part of long-term corpo­rate success. 

About Tanja Bodewein

Tanja Bode­wein advi­ses share­hol­ders and entre­pre­neurs on stra­te­gic person­nel decis­i­ons. In addi­tion to appoint­ments to super­vi­sory boards, advi­sory boards and indus­try experts at Board Xperts, she also advi­ses indus­trial, medium-sized and family-owned compa­nies as well as private equity firms on first and second level appoint­ments as part of the XELLENTO Execu­tive Search team. 

She star­ted her career at the recruit­ment consul­tancy TASA Inter­na­tio­nal in the finan­cial services sector. In 2005, she became an inde­pen­dent person­nel consul­tant. She is conside­red an expe­ri­en­ced indus­try expert with over 20 years of exper­tise in the search and selec­tion of execu­ti­ves. Her focus is on filling key posi­ti­ons in the areas of finance and accoun­ting, control­ling, tax and IT manage­ment (CIO environment). 

www.board-xperts.com

The company profile of Board Xperts can be found in chap­ter 11 of the FYB 2026 edition.