The CFA Institute has 200,000 members globally, with about 12,000 in Britain.
Signatories to the code will provide a confidential, annual progress report to the CFA Institute, which will report industry-wide figures once a critical mass of signatories is reached.
It comes on top of initiatives such as the Women in Finance charter backed by the finance ministry, which are well established and supported, although progress has been uneven.
"The regulator sets the mandatory baseline, we can look to aspirational goals," said Sarah Maynard, global senior head, external diversity, equity and inclusion, at the CFA Institute.
Given the global nature of finance, the CFA is also looking at how the code can help join up different national initiatives.
Persons:
Toby Melville, Sarah Maynard, Maynard, Huw Jones, Mark Potter
Organizations:
REUTERS, Companies CFA, CFA Institute, CFA, Women, Finance, Britain's, Authority, Bank of England, Thomson
Locations:
London, Britain, U.S, United States, Canada