Firms commit to promoting gender diversity in financial services

The new signatories come as the third Women in Finance annual review, published on Tuesday, showed that the proportion of women in senior management has increased at charter firms, with three out of four firms increasing or maintaining their proportion of women in top jobs in 2019.

The report also shows that the average female representation in senior management has increased from 30 per cent in 2017 to 32 per cent in 2019. One-third of firms signed up to the charter have already met their targets for women in senior leadership, while the remainder report they are on track to meet their targets.

"I am determined to see financial services firms improve their gender diversity," said City Minister John Glen.

"Today’s figures show that progress is being made, but that there is still a great deal more to do. With the scale of challenges and opportunities facing financial services, we cannot afford to miss out on the best talent and leadership."

He explained that firms’ response to coronavirus has demonstrated that flexible working is not only possible but also a positive change that benefits everyone.

"As we plan our recovery, I encourage firms to think about how we build on the lessons learned to accelerate progress," Mr Glen said.

Forty-two new companies have signed the charter, which commits firms to supporting the progression of women into senior roles in the financial services sector. This brings the total number of signatories to over 370.

This comes at the same time as a doubling of signatories to the Investing in Women Code, a Treasury-sponsored programme to improve access to finance for women, and to provide support to female entrepreneurs. Sixty-six firms are now committed to increasing the transparency around the funding provided to entrepreneurs and founders, and supporting innovative women.