News story: More financial services firms commit to improve gender diversity at the top

A further 67 companies have signed up to HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter, including J.P. Morgan, Bupa, Admiral Group, Equifax, Investec Asset Management, and Yorkshire Building Society, taking the total number of signatories to 272. This means that the Charter now covers over 760,000 financial services employees in the UK.

John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury said:

From banking to asset management, too few women get to the top in financial services. That’s why it’s so important that firms sign our Charter and commit publicly to take action. It’s not just the morally right thing to do; a balanced workforce is good for business, for customers, and for profitability too.

I commend our new signatories for taking a step in the right direction, but of course there is more to do. I urge firms who’ve not already signed our Charter to join us in building a more representative and inclusive industry.

As recommended in Jayne-Anne Gadhia’s review into the representation of women in financial services, the Women in Finance Charter asks firms to commit to four industry actions to prepare their female talent for leadership positions:

  • having one member of our senior executive team who is responsible and accountable for gender diversity and inclusion
  • setting internal targets for gender diversity in our senior management
  • publishing progress annually against these targets in reports on our website
  • having an intention to ensure the pay of the senior executive team is linked to delivery against these internal targets on gender diversity

Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO of Virgin Money and the government’s Women in Finance Champion said:

I am delighted we have more than 270 companies committed to HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter. Gender equality and diversity is integral to creating a fairer, more prosperous society. But there’s still more to do and we will keep going until every organisation is signed up.

Further information

272 firms have now signed the Women in Finance Charter. The 67 new firms that signed the Charter between 1 March 2018 and 30 June 2018 are:

  • Admiral Group
  • AE3 Media
  • Armstrong Wolfe
  • Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited
  • Barrington Hibbert Associates
  • BNP Paribas Personal Finance
  • BondMason
  • Bovill Ltd
  • Brooks Macdonald plc
  • Canada Life
  • Coventry Building Society
  • Daiwa Capital Markets Europe Ltd
  • EIS Association
  • Ellis Davies Financial Planning Ltd
  • Engage Financial Services Ltd
  • Equifax Ltd
  • Evolution Financial Planning
  • Fintech Strategic Advisors Ltd
  • Fintellect Recruitment
  • First Wealth LLP
  • Flood Re Ltd
  • Foresight
  • Franklin Templeton Investments
  • GAM
  • Global Processing Services
  • Goji Investments
  • Grant Thornton
  • Hinckley and Rugby Building Society
  • HUBX
  • ICAEW
  • Intermediate Capital Group
  • Investec Asset Management Limited
  • J. P. Morgan
  • Kames Capital plc
  • Lazard & Co Limited
  • Lazard Asset Management Limited
  • LifeSearch
  • Magenta Financial Planning
  • Marsh Ltd
  • Medianett Ltd
  • Mortgages for Business Ltd
  • MT Finance Ltd
  • Mustard Seed Impact Ltd
  • National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers
  • Nomura International
  • PIMCO
  • Prytania Solutions Limited
  • Pukka Insure Ltd
  • Rathbone Brothers plc
  • Scottish Equity Partners
  • SDB Bookkeeping Services
  • Semper Capital Management
  • Shepherd Compello Ltd
  • St. James’s Place plc
  • Stonehaven International
  • Sussex Independent Financial Advisers Ltd
  • Tesco Underwriting
  • The British United Provident Association (BUPA)
  • The Meyer Partnership
  • The Mortgage & Insurance Bureau
  • TPI CAP
  • UK Government Investments
  • UniCredit Group
  • Vanguard Asset Services Limited
  • Whyfield
  • Yorkshire Building Society Group
  • Zopa Limited