"According to the 2017 World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, although 46% of employees within financial services are women, only 15% are working at the executive level. "
Latest firms to join the charter include Bower Retirement, Canada Life, Coventry Building Society, Hinckley and Rugby Building Society, Investec Asset Management, Mortgages for Business, MT Finance, and Yorkshire Building Society Group.
Barcadia Media, parent company of Financial Reporter, joined the Charter in March.
The first Annual Review into the Women in Finance Charter was also published in March 2018, and found that more than three-quarters (78%) of the first group of signatories either increased or maintained the proportion of women in senior management in the reporting period.
Signatory firms have committed to implement four key industry actions, as recommended in Jayne-Anne Gadhia’s review into the representation of women in senior management in financial services, published in March 2016. The review found that in 2015, women made up only 14% of executive committees in the financial services sector.
Since the Charter launched, over 85% of the signatories that have set their Charter targets have committed to have at least 30% women in senior roles by 2021. Over 25% of the firms that have set their Charter targets have committed to a 50/50 gender split in senior roles by 2021.
Jenny Barrett, director of marketing and research at Mortgages for Business, said: “According to the 2017 World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, although 46% of employees within financial services are women, only 15% are working at the executive level. Clearly this needs to change and I’m very excited to be leading the initiative here at Mortgages for Business.”
Steve Olejnik, COO at Mortgages for Business, added: “Within our firm, I can reveal that 25% of the board is made up of women. Whilst this might be a higher percentage than the average, in reality, that is just two women and we are mindful that over time the figure needs to rise. We are all committed to making it happen and ensure that we have a gender balance throughout the business.”
