Financial services is one of the largest employers in the UK and often sited as a shining star in the UK economy, attracting inward investment and talent from world over. And yet, as far as gender equity is concerned it is far from the leading light.
The numbers make poor reading.
The number of women working in financial services has fallen by more than 200,000 over the past 25 years, reducing female representation from 57 per cent in 2007 to 45 per cent in 2021, according to a report by the London Stock Exchange.
FCA figures from 2022 revealed women make up just 16 per cent of regulated advisers, and only 12 per cent of wealth managers, according to Citywire's Alpha Female Report published in September 2022.
At 27.9 per cent, the pay gap in financial services is two times the national average, Statista data from this year reveals.
Women customers are also poorly served by the industry. They are the single largest underserved group in financial services, finds the Oliver Wyman "Women in Financial Services 2020" report.
The charity One Loud Voice for Women has created a gender balance benchmark, which is due to be launched in May.
The benchmark is an enabling tool to help companies on their journey to gender balance, identifying its current status and gaps it needs to fill.
The benchmark incorporates some 35 measures within its seven overarching goals for firms wanting to achieve gender equality.
Below I outline some measures that I believe are particularly pertinent to financial services firms.
Board commitment to gender equality
Without a serious commitment with specific targets and action to bring about meaningful change, progress will continue to move far too slow.
Far too many companies at present think they are taking action just because they support International Women's Day, they have a women’s network or are signatory to the Women in Finance Charter.
I would urge companies to task HR to recruit twice more women in senior and middle management than men, year on year until the firm's targets are met.
It is only when this happens that the dial in women representation will change.
Eliminating the pay gap
Women are paid less than men. Firms can argue and try to justify it at all sorts of level: more women in lower paid work dragging the average down, historical discrepancy which will take time to correct, and so on.
But the reality is that women on average get paid less than men.
I was one of those women in the not too distance past.
I urge all senior executives and board members to have a serious look at their firms gender equality gap and to commit to double down on their efforts.So I propose that firms need to have internal and external audits to monitor and report on gaps in gender pay, bonus and rewards.
This should be reported to the board or remuneration committee who should have a commitment to eliminate the firm’s pay gap within the next five years.
This level of scrutiny and commitment is needed if the pay gap is to be reduced to a negligible level.
Shifting the sticky middle
The sticky middle is where 'this is how we do business here' mentality results in the loss of many talented women, and I am sure talented men too who also do not fit the mould.
One Loud Voice have two specific programmes to address this problem.
First is a gender partnership framework for all men in middle management.
The objective here is to create short-term partnerships between men and women focused on breaking down barriers, creating better understanding between the sexes and promoting a culture of tolerance and empathy within a controlled framework.
The second programme focuses on women in middle management and looks to use, firstly, dynamic coaching techniques to help women identify and overcome internal (specific to them) and external (company specific) barriers.
Furthermore, use vibrant coaching. This looks to change women managers' mind-set and how they view and react to micro-aggressions and gender inappropriate behaviour, enabling them to remain focused on their career progression and the path to promotion.
In addition to coaching, I would propose that every senior executive is partnered in a sponsorship relationship with a women in middle management.
All these measures should enable more women to successfully navigate the sticky middle and augment the firm’s talent pool.
Getting rid of the motherhood penalty
Motherhood has a huge impact on women’s career and pay.
Firms can change that through an array of measures to make the business more attractive to parents of young children.
As a priority, I would suggest two measures:
1. Equal parental leave
While maternity leave benefits are now generally fit for purpose, shared parental leave is far less generous, both in terms of time off and monetary value.
Women (and men) benefit enormously by having the flexibility to work from home.This needs to change if women (and men) are to be given a real, workable option as to who takes time out to look after the children.
Equal parental leave should help create a more level playing field for both women and men.
2. Flexible working
Women (and men) benefit enormously by having the flexibility to work from home.
The flexibility enables them to balance their home responsibilities alongside their work, providing a much better work/life balance for all employees.
There is some push back against flexible working, but if a firm is serious about gender equity then it must provide genuine flexibility round work, including remote/hybrid working, part time and job share.
Harassment and bullying
Despite ever-expanding regulation and scrutiny, financial services, especially wealth and fund management, remain male-dominated and corrosive cultures survive.
Only recently I listened to a case of sexual harassment, abuse of power and tacit cover-up so as not to rock the boat.
Far too often victims find themselves negotiated out or worst, having to hush up.
I think this will continue until there is a policy of zero tolerance from top to bottom and HR is tasked to monitor and report to the board on all harassment and bullying allegations alongside the outcome.
So this International Women's Day, I urge all senior executives and board members to have a serious look at their firms gender equality gap and to commit to double down on their efforts to bring about meaningful change within the next year.
If you do not know how your firm fares on the gender equity scale, then do reach out to One Loud Voice and we would be happy to make our Equal Measure Benchmark available to you.
It is easy to use and highly cost efficient. Plus you will be helping a young charity to help even more firms and individuals.
Anna Sofat was founder and chief executive of Addidi Wealth, a women-focused IFA business sold to Progeny. She is currently the chair of One Loud Voice for Women
