Corporate Equality Index: The Finance Industry Continues to Lead the Way in LGBTQ Workplace Inclusion

The FINANCIAL — The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, released its 2021 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring company policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality. The CEI comes out after a year the nation has faced a global pandemic, legitimate racial injustice and national unrest. Within this climate, the banking and finance sector has continued to advance vital workplace protections for LGBTQ employees around the world, as acknowledged in this report.

According to Bank of America, the banking and financial services industry is part of the 1,142 major U.S. businesses that were also ranked in the 2021 CEI, the largest number of companies to be ranked to date. 119 companies in the banking and financial services sector have been designated a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality for their efforts in satisfying all of the CEI’s criteria results in a 100 percent ranking.

“From the previously unimaginable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, to a long overdue reckoning with racial injustice, 2020 was an unprecedented year. Yet, many businesses across the nation stepped up and continued to prioritize and champion LGBTQ equality,” said Alphonso David, Human Rights Campaign President. “This year has shown us that tools like the CEI are crucial in the work to increase equity and inclusion in the workplace, but also that companies must breathe life into these policies and practices in real and tangible ways. Thank you to the companies that understand protecting their LGBTQ employees and consumers from discrimination is not just the right thing to do—but the best business decision.”

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2021 Corporate Equality Index (CEI)
Company	HQ City	HQ State	2021 CEI Score
AllianceBernstein LP	Nashville	Tenn.	100
Ally Financial Inc.	Detroit	Mich.	100
Amalgamated Bank	New York	N.Y.	100
American Express Company	New York	N.Y.	100
American Express Global Business Travel	Jersey City	N.J.	100
Apollo Global Management Inc.	New York	N.Y.	100
AQR Capital Management LLC	Greenwich	Conn.	100
Ares Management LLC	Los Angeles	Calif.	100
Bank of America Corp.	Charlotte	N.C.	100
Bank of New York Mellon Corp., The	New York	N.Y.	100
Bank of the West	San Francisco	Calif.	100
Barclays	New York	N.Y.	100
BBVA USA	Birmingham	Ala.	100
Berkshire Bank	Boston	Mass.	100
BlackRock	New York	N.Y.	100
Blackstone Group LP, The	New York	N.Y.	100
Bloomberg LP	New York	N.Y.	100
BMO Financial Corp.	Chicago	Ill.	100
BNP Paribas	New York	N.Y.	100
Bridgewater Associates LP	Westport	Conn.	100
Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc.	Lake Success	N.Y.	100
Brown Advisory	Baltimore	Md.	100
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.	New York	N.Y.	100
Cambridge Associates LLC	Boston	Mass.	100
Capital Group Companies Inc., The	Los Angeles	Calif.	100
Capital One Financial Corp.	McLean	Va.	100
Carlyle Group LP, The	Washington	District of Columbia	100
Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.	San Francisco	Calif.	100
CIT Group Inc.	New York	N.Y.	100
Citigroup Inc.	New York	N.Y.	100
Citizens Financial Group	Providence	R.I.	100
CME Group Inc.	Chicago	Ill.	100
Comerica Inc.	Dallas	Texas	100
Credit Suisse USA Inc.	New York	N.Y.	100
Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., The	New York	N.Y.	100
Deutsche Bank	New York	N.Y.	100
Discover Financial Services	Riverwoods	Ill.	100
Eastern Bank Corporation/Eastern Bankshares, Inc.	Boston	Mass.	100
Eaton Vance	Boston	Mass.	100
Edward Jones	Des Peres	Mo.	100
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac)	McLean	Va.	100
Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae)	Washington	District of Columbia	100
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta	Atlanta	Ga.	100
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston	Boston	Mass.	100
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago	Chicago	Ill.	100
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland	Cleveland	Ohio	100
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City	Kansas City	Mo.	100
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis	Minneapolis	Minn.	100
Federal Reserve Bank of New York	New York	N.Y.	100
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia	Philadelphia	Pa.	100
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond	Richmond	Va.	100
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco	San Francisco	Calif.	100
Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis	Saint Louis	Mo.	100
Fidelity National Information Services Inc.	Jacksonville	Fla.	100
Fifth Third Bancorp	Cincinnati	Ohio	100
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.	Washington	District of Columbia	100
First American Financial Corp.	Santa Ana	Calif.	100
Fiserv Inc.	Brookfield	Wis.	100
Fitch Group Inc	New York	N.Y.	100
Franklin Templeton Investments	San Mateo	Calif.	100
Global Payments Inc.	Atlanta	Ga.	100
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., The	New York	N.Y.	100
H&R Block Inc.	Kansas City	Mo.	100
HSBC USA	New York	N.Y.	100
Huntington Bancshares Inc.	Columbus	Ohio	100
Invesco Ltd.	Atlanta	Ga.	100
Janus Henderson Investors	Denver	Colo.	100
John Hancock Financial Services Inc.	Boston	Mass.	100
JPMorgan Chase & Co.	New York	N.Y.	100
KeyCorp	Cleveland	Ohio	100
KKR & Co. LP	New York	N.Y.	100
Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC	Jersey City	N.J.	100
LPL Financial Holdings Inc.	Boston	Mass.	100
M&T Bank Corp.	Buffalo	N.Y.	100
Macquarie Group Ltd.	New York	N.Y.	100
Mastercard	Purchase	N.Y.	100
Mesirow Financial Holdings Inc.	Chicago	Ill.	100
Moody’s Corp.	New York	N.Y.	100
Morgan Stanley	New York	N.Y.	100
Morningstar Inc.	Chicago	Ill.	100
MUFG Union Bank, N.A.	New York	N.Y.	100
NASDAQ Inc.	New York	N.Y.	100
Neuberger Berman Group LLC	New York	N.Y.	100
Nomura	New York	N.Y.	100
Northern Trust Corp.	Chicago	Ill.	100
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance	Milwaukee	Wis.	100
PIMCO LLC	Newport Beach	Calif.	100
PNC Financial Services Group Inc., The	Pittsburgh	Pa.	100
Prudential Financial Inc.	Newark	N.J.	100
Raymond James Financial Inc.	St. Petersburg	Fla.	100
RBC Capital Markets LLC	New York	N.Y.	100
RBC Wealth Management	Minneapolis	Minn.	100
Regions Financial Corp.	Birmingham	Ala.	100
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated	Milwaukee	Wis.	100
Rockland Trust Co.	Rockland	Mass.	100
S&P Global Inc.	New York	N.Y.	100
Seacoast National Bank	Stuart	Fla.	100
Société Générale	New York	N.Y.	100
Standard Chartered	New York	N.Y.	100
State Street Corp.	Boston	Mass.	100
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation	New York	N.Y.	100
Synchrony	Stamford	Conn.	100
T. Rowe Price Associates Inc.	Baltimore	Md.	100
TD Ameritrade	Omaha	Neb.	100
TD Bank, N.A.	Cherry Hill	N.J.	100
TD Securities (USA) LLC	New York	N.Y.	100
TIAA	New York	N.Y.	100
TPG Global LLC	Fort Worth	Texas	100
TransUnion	Chicago	Ill.	100
Truist Financial	Atlanta	Ga.	100
U.S. Bancorp	Minneapolis	Minn.	100
UBS AG	New York	N.Y.	100
United Services Automobile Association	San Antonio	Texas	100
Vanguard Group Inc.	Malvern	Pa.	100
Visa	San Francisco	Calif.	100
Voya Financial	New York	N.Y.	100
Waddell & Reed Financial Inc.	Overland Park	Kan.	100
Wells Fargo & Co.	San Francisco	Calif.	100
William Blair & Company LLC	Chicago	Ill.	100
CNO Financial Group Inc.	Carmel	Ind.	95
Pacific Life Insurance Co.	Newport Beach	Calif.	95
UW Credit Union	Madison	Wis.	95
Ameriprise Financial Inc.	Minneapolis	Minn.	90
Commerce Bank	Kansas City	Mo.	90
Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA LLC (MBFS)	Farmington Hills	Mich.	90
Navient	Wilmington	Del.	90
Old National Bank	Evansville	Ind.	90
Empower Retirement	Greenwood Village	Colo.	85
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas	Dallas	Texas	85
Fidelity Investments	Boston	Mass.	85
LendingClub	San Francisco	Calif.	85
Western Union Co., The	Denver	Colo.	85
Alliance Data Systems Corp.	Columbus	Ohio	80
Flagstar Bancorp Inc.	Troy	Mich.	80
United Nations Federal Credit Union	Long Island City	N.Y.	80
First Horizon National Corp.	Memphis	Tenn.	75
Johnson Financial Group	Racine	Wis.	70
Oaktree Capital Management LP	Los Angeles	Calif.	70
SLM Corp. (Sallie Mae)	Newark	Del.	70
CIBC Bank USA	New York	N.Y.	60
Loews Corp.	New York	N.Y.	55
CoreLogic	Irvine	Calif.	50

The CEI has successfully worked with the country’s top corporations and business leaders, helping them break new ground each year in workplace equality. The CEI is one tool among many for savvy consumers and the public at-large to assess where they want to work or spend their dollars. While the CEI cannot be a barometer for the full-scope of workplace culture, it does work to create a foundation upon which employees can work to rectify their concerns and feel more comfortable living and working as their true selves.

The most considerable progress measured over the 19 year history of the CEI, and continuing in 2021, has been has been the wide-scale adoption of transgender-inclusive initiatives across businesses.

A full 94 percent of the Fortune 500 and 99.7 percent of all CEI rated businesses have gender identity protections in their nondiscrimination policies—up from 3 percent and 5 percent respectively since the launch of the CEI in 2002.
71 percent of the Fortune 500 and 91 percent of all CEI-rated businesses offer transgender-inclusive health insurance coverage, up from 0 in 2002, and 22 times as many businesses as ten years ago.
- 97 new employers offer this coverage according to the 2021 report.

Other key findings revealed in the 2021 CEI:

The 767 companies who earned a 100 on the CEI represent over 13 million employees nationally, and another 13 million globally.
Of all Fortune 500 companies, 458 have sexual orientation in their U.S. non-discrimination policy, and 448 have gender identity.
The average CEI score for all Fortune 500 companies increased from 73 to 76 in the past year—with actively participating Fortune 500 companies having an average score of 91 percent, up from 89 percent last year.

Companies rated in the CEI include Fortune magazine’s 500 largest publicly traded businesses, American Lawyer magazine’s top 200 revenue-grossing law firms (AmLaw 200), and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid- to large-sized businesses.

The CEI criteria are reviewed annually and periodically changed, raising the bar to reflect best practices for LGBTQ inclusion and to drive companies to improve upon their commitment to the community. The 2021 CEI criteria are the 5th iteration in the survey’s 19-year history and reflect our most robust standards to date. The criteria fall under four central pillars:

Non-discrimination policies across business entities;
Equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families;
Supporting an inclusive culture; and,
Corporate social responsibility.

The full report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

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