A group of 80 leading City fund managers has committed to hiring at least 100 black interns per year, starting in 2021, to make up for the lack of black staff in the industry.

Legal & General, Goldman Sachs, Standard Life Aberdeen and Schroders are among the firms that have signed up to the #100BlackInterns initiative, aimed at helping young, university-educated black people break into the sector by placing them in frontline roles.

Organisers did not disclose how many interns they hire each year but said their proposals would lead to an increase in the number of portfolio managers from black backgrounds. A study in 2018 by the think tank New Financial showed that the industry was dominated by “white, middle class, straight men”, with only 12 black fund managers across the UK investment management profession. That is out of an estimated 3,000 fund managers, according to a spokesperson for the #100BlackInterns initiative.

“In over two decades in the City, I have rarely come across anyone who looks like me,” said Dawid Konotey-Ahulu, one of the initiative’s coordinators and the co-founder of pensions advisory group Redington.

“It is so powerful that the investment management industry has agreed to help welcome more black talent. We hope other professions will follow suit and have an impact on the representation of black talent in their own industries.”

The minimum six-week paid placements will be offered to black candidates who are either still studying or have recently graduated from university, from all academic disciplines. The programme guarantees that they will be placed in “critically important investment teams” at hedge funds, private equity firms, consultancies and pension funds.

Applicants do not need previous experience or to know anyone working for the firms – to avoid disadvantaging applicants who do not have personal connections in the sector. The deadline for applications is 13 November.