DiversityOct 26 2020

Race in financial services - levelling the playing field

twitter-iconfacebook-iconlinkedin-iconmail-iconprint-icon
Search supported by
Race in financial services - levelling the playing field

That weekend in 1968 US cities were engulfed in violence in which 30 people died and more than 2,000 were injured in response to the shooting of Dr King.

52 years later the murder of George Floyd has led to people around the world asking tough questions about how much has actually changed in the US and indeed in their own countries including in the UK.

Black Lives Matter has raised consciousness about the uneven playing field that many black people face in all walks of life and in the workplace. I am not saying that discrimination against black people is any more poisonous or damaging than against other groups, discrimination of any kind is wrong.

It is though only more recently being understood how deeply ingrained it is in the western world.

Being mixed race myself I wanted to write about my personal experience in the industry I have worked in most of my adult life, financial services and its associated technology and I hope that in doing so it contributes to the discussion and action around how we can create a level playing field for all.

4.5 per cent of the UK population identify as black African, Caribbean or mixed-race heritage. I have not seen any surveys but my personal experience is that black or mixed race people in financial services are under-represented.

This is particularly so in wealth and investment management.  The contrast widens even more if you compare the industry in London to the population of London where 18 per cent of people identify as black or mixed race - the industry seriously lacks diversity.

I am proud of the diversity in our own company of 75 people, where 40 per cent of our team are women, 17 per cent are from non-white British backgrounds (25 per cent if you include all non-British) and 6.6 per cent, that is, five people are from black African, Caribbean or mixed race backgrounds, including me.

We are in many ways a reflection of modern Britain. We do though recognise that we have work to do to ensure that as we grow we continue to maintain and grow our diversity.

Does it bother me that entering a room in financial services I rarely see people who look like me? Increasingly it does.

I worry that the journey I have made was possible because of a good dose of privilege and is too hard for too many people because the playing field is far from even. Talent is everywhere, opportunity is not.

My experience is that under representation is a function of both supply and demand. Two years ago I started volunteering with Urban Synergy where I am now an advisory board member.

It involved going into schools in and around Lewisham, South East London where I spent my early years, talking to young people about career opportunities.

These are ethnically diverse schools with many young black people often from working class backgrounds.

Urban Synergy is an amazing charity which helps put role models in front of young people aged 10-18 and provides one-on-one mentoring through a network of volunteers.

While it is not a scientific sample, in two years I have spoken to well over a hundred young people, only one has said they wanted a career in financial services.

It is not an industry young people see as obtainable, let alone aspire to.

There is little understanding of the industry, few role models, and the apparent cultural conservatism of institutions appears off-putting. So, few people try.

The city is only 12 minutes by train from Lewisham but it might as well be the other side of the world.

On the demand side financial services often recruits from networks it knows; certain schools or universities, from contacts already in the industry and it can be dominated by cultures which do not value diversity of thought or behaviour.

This tilts selection in favour of existing groups and away from the talent which exists in minorities. And believe me there is talent in those classrooms.

I have met so many kids who have every bit the smarts, energy and ambition that kids anywhere have, it is just that financial services are not on their radar.

My natural father came over from a Caribbean island as part of the Windrush generation when he was 16. He was the illegitimate son of a plantation owner and his mother was the owner’s maid. It was the oldest slave plantation on the island.

My natural mother who was a white English Londoner and also 16 got pregnant. Bringing up a baby as teenagers would have been hard enough let alone bringing up a mixed race child at that time so they put me into care where I was adopted by my parents, both of whom are white English. A vicar and a teacher.

Strangely I do not remember the topic of race coming up a lot as a child - our friends and community were from all over. I grew up thinking that was the way things were. Looking back I think childhood shielded me from what was really going on.

I went to a lunch at the House of Lords a few years ago to honour the work my dad had done for race relations in the borough. It did not really sink in at the time but racism was all around.

When I was 14 we moved to Surrey and I got a bursary to a good school. Without doubt I have had a privileged education. It wasn’t easy at first being the only person of colour in an almost entirely white school and there were a few boys who focused on the colour of my skin rather than who I was as a person, and that definitely hurt.

But encouraged by my parents I worked reasonably hard and made good friends, a number of whom were headed for the City, which for them was a well established career path. From there I went to university first here and then in the US.  

When I got back I set up my first business and applied for funding from The Princes’ Trust. I was turned down for funding but as part of that process was introduced to a mentor, an amazing man by the name of Robert Perrin.

Robert had had a high-flying career in this country and the US as a strategy consultant. He took the time to mentor me – ultimately over years - and encouraged me to focus on getting some experience under my belt in the commercial world. He used to say; ‘never set your sights too low’.

I worked initially as a programmer analyst and then eventually landed a role as a strategy consultant at PwC, working in financial services. It was not diverse but it was meritocratic and I got as much opportunity as anyone else.

I got exposed to boardrooms around the city as a young consultant and some of those contacts remain friends and indeed clients. My boss was a great coach.

Did I have to conform to get on? Probably, but in my case my family’s values and behaviours were British middle class, so it was not difficult.

I do look at others now who do not conform so much in their dress or speech or behaviour and think – good for you – you should not have to completely change who you are to get on. Requiring conformity so often rules out diversity of thought and in this rapidly changing world, all companies need this.

Have I encountered racism in financial services? To my face, almost never. After giving a conference speech 20 years ago I was told that I was ‘Too dark’ for the industry, but that was an isolated incident and while upsetting at the time, I realised spoke more about the person that said it than it did about me.

My experience has been that I and our company have been judged on my - and its - merits. In fact I would go further, throughout my career I have come across many individuals in the industry who have gone out of their way to help me, regardless of colour.

The opportunities I have had though, to go to a school where financial services was a natural career choice, to go to university, to have parents and mentors who opened my eyes to career possibilities are without doubt privileges.

My belief now as an employer and part of a nationally important industry is that we need to recognise that these things are not there for many people. It is not enough not to be racist.

It is important to recognise the limitations of our natural networks and proactively reach out beyond them. It is important to act as role models and mentors and to encourage those for whom our industry is not a natural pathway to consider it.

If we do this we can help ensure that the playing field is made level first for individuals and then ultimately for all, with all the benefits that this will bring for the industry in accessing untapped talent and the diversity of thought that comes with it.

Urban Synergy is looking for role models and mentors. You can find out more at www.urbansynergy.com.

Ben Goss is co-founder of Distribution Technology