Finance industry needs to be 'more accessible' for those who didn’t go to university

Speaking to FTAdviser as part of the New Voices series, Brear said people need to be offered the same opportunity whether they come from a more established background or not.

"Some people might not be able to go to university because their financial background doesn’t dictate that," she said.

"Those people shouldn’t be shunned from the industry, there needs to be more internships, apprenticeships, schemes within this industry so that it feels more accessible for people who didn’t go to university."

Brear argued that there needs to be more representation of people in the industry who aren’t just the perceived stereotype, such as the increasing number of women.

"There are more of us that break through that barrier these days and it just needs to be advertised that there are more of us out there."

Economic representation was not the only thing Brear identified as an issue in the industry.

"There definitely needs to be more conversations around the gender pension gap," she said.

"At the moment women that are building up a pension pot, by the time they come to retire they have around 35 per cent less of a pension than men do. I think it is a massive area that needs work at the moment.

"I think there needs to be more people in the industry showing that they are there to help women in the industry."

Brear identified one way of addressing the gap as education, stating that: "knowing about finances needs to be more prevalent from a younger age".

She said: "People need to understand why they need to be saving for the future and how it would affect them if they don’t do and that’s something that is more ingrained in men right now.

"It needs to be hammered home across the board."

She also discussed what makes companies most appealing for younger employees, identfying culture as a particularly important aspect.

"It is super important for being in the industry at the moment. When I say culture I don’t mean the drinking culture, there can be a lot of companies that, especially in the city, in London.

"There are more young people that aren’t drinking and that does shun some people away from wanting to come into the office.

"My experience is that people can feel like they are not in the social bubble if they are not going out for those drinks on a Thursday afternoon."

Instead of this culture, Brear stated that she thought wellbeing is a part of the work culture that needs to be explored a bit more.

She explained that it is "very easy" for people in the industry to compare ourselves to people in other industries such as tech or marketing where they put a lot of basis on the wellbeing and the extra curricular they put on for their colleagues.

"I think that needs to happen more here," she added.

tom.dunstan@ft.com

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