The UK government launched the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter in March 2016 to encourage the financial services industry to improve gender balance in senior management. By March 2017, 122 firms had signed up to the Charter. These firms employ more than 500,000 people in the UK and cover almost half of the financial sector.
The number of signatories illustrates how seriously the sector is taking the Charter. But what impact has joining the Charter had on signatory companies? What benefits are they realising and what challenges do they face in meeting their Charter commitments? New Financial surveyed Charter signatories in May 2017 to answer these questions.
New Financial believes that diversity in its broadest sense is not only an essential part of running a sustainable business but a fundamental part of addressing cultural change in capital markets. We provided data to Jayne-Anne Gadhia’s government-backed review of senior women in financial services, Empowering Productivity, and we are working with HM Treasury to conduct an annual review of the HMT Women in Finance Charter to monitor the progress of charter signatories.