Credit Suisse Reports that LGBTQ+ Inclusive Companies Have Outperformed

Credit Suisse has reported that companies that are inclusive of diversity - including gender and sexual orientation - have performed much better than the wider market historically, Bloomberg reports.

The financier's market-cap weight basket of 350 companies that are "LGBTQ+ inclusive" - including companies such as JPMorgan Chase & Co, Apple, and others - has outperformed the ACWI global equity index by a whole 378 basis points every year since 2010.

The secret of the success was attributed to how these firms easily attract and retain talent, with some companies reporting over 72% of LGBTQ allies saying they're more likely to accept a job where an employer shares their values. This success has also pooled into revenue growth and cash flow returns, bringing further benefits to companies that have embraced tolerance and inclusion openly.

Citing the study, analysts said "the need for companies to take a pro-active LGBT+ approach is obvious in our view. With LGBT+ consumers making up between 5-10% of the population, [they] estimate that consumer spending [...] could represent as much as $5.6 trillion" for LGBT+ consumers.

Credit Suisse's methodology to selecting these companies includes either the presence of open LGBTQ+ managers in senior positions, or recognition as a top LGBTQ+ inclusive employer in surveys such as Stonewall's Workplace Equality Index, and the HRC's Corporate Equality Index.

Interestingly, 90% of these companies are based in North America, with finance and IT being overrepresented in the mix. These companies have seen an 18% gain compared to the 12% benchmark at the S&P 500 index.

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