Your IndustryMar 2 2016

Women can enrich the world of wealth

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Women can enrich the world of wealth
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When you look at senior positions, the problem surrounding women in management becomes even more evident when you discover they hold only 25 per cent of these jobs in the global financial services industry.

Looking at the chief executives of 150 global financial institutions surveyed by management consultants Oliver Wyman, only 4 per cent are women. A lot of these figures are due to historical trends, as recently it is moving in the right direction towards equality.

Women, as well as men for that matter, face challenges of managing childcare and a career, regardless of sector. Those businesses that embrace the benefits of flexible working will get the best out of individuals facing this challenge – whether part-time, condensed hours or working from home.

Technology now offers the chance to have meetings via Skype or logging into the organisation’s shared drive, while being off-site means you no longer need to be sat at your desk in your office all day.

What still seems to be prevalent in some parts of the financial services sector is a ‘presenteeism’ culture, where you are judged by whether you are in the office or not. Being sat at your desk for longer hours does not necessarily mean you have been more productive, while often the opposite is true, as a change of environment can increase engagement. This is an organisational cultural issue, which the chief executive and senior management team can change, if they wish.

The Davies Report looking at women in the boardroom shows that 26.1 per cent of seats in FTSE 100 boardrooms are occupied by women, an increase of 12.5 per cent from 2011, with this number for the same time period going from 7.8 per cent to 19.6 per cent for the FTSE 250. This too is moving in the right direction, surpassing the target of hitting 25 per cent for women on FTSE 100 boards by 2015, although this is a bit of a revolving door with often the same women appearing.

Although we are not seeing many women chief executives currently, there is plenty of talent in the pipeline waiting for the right opportunity.

In the wealth management industry we have launched our Women in Wealth forum this year, and are discovering pockets of women’s networks within the sector. However, given that many businesses in financial services are small to medium-sized enterprises (more than 85 per cent), with the same being true for the WMA membership, having an industry forum will hopefully bring women together to network, share experiences and hear from senior women about how they have tackled the challenges.

Wealth management lends itself to female traits of empathy, communication and relationship skills. Wealth management is based on long-term trust, and with the number of women earning £1m or above rising at three times faster than the number of men, it is of vital importance that the wealth management industry reflects its potential customer base. Companies should want to attract a diverse workforce as a business critical decision to reflect the global economy in which we live. The best chance businesses have to understand their broad customer base is to reflect this throughout the workforce, particularly among the boardroom level executives.

Attracting women in the first place is difficult – since the crisis, financial services is not perceived in quite the same high regard as it once was. As a sector, wealth management is still relatively unknown – banking takes the majority of the limelight. So we still have much to do to promote the industry.

I am encouraged by the forward thinking of WMA firms, as shown in the nominations for our millennial forum, which are split evenly between the genders, so forward-thinking chief executives and senior managers are taking their responsibilities of mentoring and sponsoring women seriously. Women need this support to help them navigate career ladders and boost their confidence.

Wealth managers have a higher purpose – to safeguard the wealth of private individuals. If women are wondering why they should be in the business, this is the reason.

Liz Field is chief executive of the Wealth Management Association