A major survey of financial services professionals has found the majority has rejected the need for the industry to do more to correct the gaping gender imbalance within its ranks.
According to a survey by the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI) of 931 of its members, 57 per cent of respondents disagreed when asked if they believed “the industry should be doing more to correct this gender imbalance”.
The question referred to figures published by the FCA, which showed that of the 125,000 “approved persons working in customer function positions”, 82 per cent were male and only 18 per cent were female.
The imbalance was even starker within investment management, where recent research by Tilney Bestinvest found just 7 per cent of funds in the most popular IA sectors were managed by women.
Of the respondents to the CISI survey, 33 per cent strongly disagreed with the question, with a further 24 per cent saying they would “tend to disagree”.
Meanwhile, 28 per cent of respondents said they strongly agreed the industry should be doing more to address the gender imbalance, while 15 per cent said they would tend to agree.
Among those who offered comments in support of their decision, many who disagreed with the question cited the need for the industry to be a meritocracy. One respondent said: “It is important that approved persons are appointed because of their skills and not because of their gender.”
