In 2021, Barksdale Investment Management earned its national certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise. This certification comes from WBEC South, a regional certifying partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.

The WBE certification was the final step in Barksdale’s transition to a majority women-owned firm. In 2019, the company became 51% women-owned, with buy-in from all shareholders. While generational equity transitions often involve little demographic change, Barksdale’s founder, Weaver Barksdale, championed the firm’s evolution to majority female ownership. After more than three decades working alongside women—including our Operations Manager, who has been with the firm since its 1984 founding—Mr. Barksdale had first-hand experience of the impact and importance of diversity to our long-term success.

Barksdale’s female employees are active in their community and the financial world in mentoring, speaking, and writing about the importance of gender diversity. From volunteering for Rock The Street Wall Street to mentoring female MBA students to panel presentations, our people serve as ambassadors for gender diversity in this male-dominated industry. In fact, one of our principals literally wrote the book on this!

We are confident that our ownership structure positions us for a new era of growth, as a growing number of clients understand the symbiosis of well-diversified portfolios and well-diversified portfolio management teams.