Master trust boards have made good progress on gender diversity but are often unrepresentative of their scheme membership in other important aspects, analysis by LCP has revealed.

The research found that nearly half (46 per cent) of master trust trustees are female, which LCP pointed out is six percentage points higher than the proportion of board members of FTSE 350 companies who are women.

It also broadly matches the gender split of the membership of a typical master trust, with Nest, for example, reporting that 47 per cent of its members are women.

However, LCP found that trustee boards are much less representative of scheme membership in other key respects.

In particular, the research found that master trust boards were unrepresentative of the wider population when it comes to ethnicity, 98 per cent of trustees were white, with just 2 per cent from a minority ethnic background.

By contrast, the 2021 census found that in England and Wales, only around 82 per cent described their ‘high level’ ethnicity as white.

Master trust boards were also found to be much older than the membership which they serve, as LCP found that just under two thirds are over age 55.

Although LCP acknowledged the importance of life experience in running these schemes, it argued that there can be benefits in bringing in fresh ideas and innovations that come with younger thinking and a Generation Z mindset.

Commenting on the research, LCP principal, John Reid, stated: “It is welcome to see a good gender balance on the boards of master trusts, but much more needs to be done when it comes to other aspects of diversity.

“Although members will want to see good levels of experience on trust boards, there is a risk that if trustees are typically much older than members, they may not fully see issues through the eyes of their younger members. Similarly, there may be issues of particular importance to scheme members from ethnic minority groups which will not be fully appreciated by an overwhelmingly white board.

“As trustee board membership evolves, more attention will need to be given to these wider aspects of diversity.”

Share Story: