Slow progress for women in UK’s financial firms as representation reaches 35%

More than 200 UK finance firms averaged 35% of women in senior management roles in 2023, up just 1% from 34%, according to think tank New Financial, which tracks the progress of signatories to a government-industry initiative.

Publishing its annual report on the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter, New Finance said the level of female representation in senior management has averaged a one percentage point gain per year since the charter was launched eight years ago. This means that at this “slow and steady” pace, signatories should achieve 50% of women in senior management in 2038, said New Financial.

Yasmine Chinwala, partner at New Financial and co-author of the report, asked: “At this rate, it will take another 15 years for the cohort as a whole to achieve parity – is that fast enough?”

The report reveals that 36% of signatories met or exceeded their gender targets in 2023, and of those 72 firms, 28 met their target ahead of schedule. This included Allianz Holdings and AXA UK. A further 40% of firms are on track to meet their future targets.

In 2023, 76 signatories’ deadlines to meet their gender targets were due. Forty-four met the targets while 32 did not. Of the 44 firms that met their deadline, 20 had a target of at least 40% of women in senior management and 12 have set more ambitious targets.

More than half of signatories to the Women in Finance Charter, which was launched in 2016 to boost the number of women in senior management within the financial services sector, have set a target of at least 40% of women in senior management. The report tracks the progress of the 202 signatories that signed the charter before September 2022, although the charter now has more than 400 signatories across the UK financial sector.

The report highlights that the gap between the top quartile of firms and the bottom quartile is getting wider “with a clear bifurcation along sector lines”, in particular UK banks and insurers are leading, while the asset managers and global/investment banks are trailing.

Insurers, banks, building societies, government bodies and trade associations that signed up to the charter all performed above average, with insurers and building societies both recording a two-percentage point rise since 2022 to 38% and 42%, respectively. However, sitting below average are investment managers, recording no change since 2022 at 32%, professional services, fintech and global/investment banking, which records the lowest proportion of women in senior management roles of all the financial sectors at 29%.

Chinwala said: “For the first time, this analysis zooms in on signatories that have improved faster over the past five years. The keys to success are: starting early, being strategic, measuring impact, implementing robustly – and most importantly, being consistent and persistent over the years to come.

“The UK, global and investment banking sectors have the biggest role to play in shifting the numbers for the whole industry, as do the largest employers. If these firms can set a sustainable course towards parity, the face of the entire industry will change.”

Baroness Vere, Treasury Lords Minister, said “there is still more to do to ensure that women are rightfully taking their seat at the table”.

Amanda Blanc, group CEO at report sponsor Aviva and Government Women in Finance Champion, said the report underlines progress in gender diversity in financial services and the level of ambition is growing. “While this progress is commendable, we need to move quicker: at the current pace, we won’t achieve gender parity until 2038. Let’s use the report’s insights as a catalyst for action,” she said.