By Bethany Rose-
HM Treasury’s Women in Financial Charter have been graced with an extra signatory from 67 firms 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.
The charter is a reflection of the Uk government’s aspiration to see gender balance at all levels within firms operating in the financial services sector.P2P investment manager Goji and direct lending specialist BondMason are also among the recent signatories. The brilliant P2P lenders have been joined by a number of major City brands including JP Morgan, Bupa, Equifax, Admiral Group, Investec Asset Management, and Yorkshire Building Society.
With a total of 272 signatories to the Charter, now covering over 760,000 financial services employees in the UK, it is hoped that the issue of gender inequality will be effectively addressed in many firms. There has been a lot of uproar and objections to gender inequalities in Uk firms and organisations, but the latest wave of signatory to HM treasury’s women in Finance Charter is a sign of progress.
“From banking to asset management, too few women get to the top in financial services,” said John Glen, economic secretary to the Treasury.
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 have asked firms to commit to four industry actions to prepare their female talent for leadership positions and having one member of our senior executive team who is responsible and accountable for gender diversity and inclusion and setting internal targets for gender diversity in our senior management. Her review also recommends firms publish progress annually against these targets in reports on our website. They should also 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.
The initiative is a brilliant and long awaited one which will go a long way into raising awareness and boosting the inclusion of women in top paid jobs and positions, instead of the current patriarchal system in which men are predominantly positioned at the top of the professional and payment chain. In 2017, there was uproar over the gender pay gap of top executives in the BBC, with BBC executives promising to bridge the gap.