• Women make up 9.1% of CEOs of financial services businesses
• Little progress on gender parity as women account for just 12,433 of senior roles at financial services firms compared to 54,425 me

Just 18.6%* (12,430) of the 66,860 senior executives in the UK financial services businesses are women, says Fox & Partners, the employment and partnership law specialists.

The share of senior roles held by women within financial services businesses has increased only marginally on the 18.2% of senior roles held by women a year ago.

The data covers senior executive roles such as CEOs, Executive Directors, Chief Risk Officers through to non-exec roles such as Senior Independent Director.

Women make up a just 9.1% of the 5,140 CEOs of financial services businesses covered by the study.

Fox & Partners say that financial service businesses in the UK are falling behind on the 40% female board representation targets set by the FTSE 350 businesses as a whole to improve female representation at senior levels.

It has been argued by regulators such as the FCA and the European Central Bank that boardroom diversity at financial services companies will lead to better decision making. It has been suggested that poor governance caused by a lack of boardroom diversity can enable the financial services sector to take on excess risk – as in the run up to the Global Financial Crisis.

Catriona Watt says: “The proportion of women in senior leadership of financial services companies has been moving forward but at a remarkably slow pace.”

“There is a concern that the reversal of many DEI initiatives at financial services businesses in the US could lead to a slowing of investment in programmes in the UK that improve diversity at senior levels within banks and fund managers.”

“A lot of financial services businesses that operate both in the UK and the US will be wondering if they want to be so vocal about diversity – it would be a real shame if momentum is lost.”

Barclays has also faced challenges here, with women comprising just 27% of executive committees in 2023, below the 40% target set by FTSE 350. Several U.S. banks are scaling back their DEI programmes to adapt to the evolving corporate landscape.

For example, Goldman Sachs axed their IPO diversity pledge – a pledge to only take companies public in the U.S. or Europe with at least two board members from an ethnic minority background.

Catriona Watt adds: “UK financial services businesses still need to do more to attract women to the industry and promote more women from within their businesses. Financial services firms need to create a positive work-place culture that incentivises women to stay long term and show them what their career path can look like. They also need to be given the experience and exposure to roles that allow them to compete for  senior leadership positions.”

*Based on data obtained from the FCA with year-end 30 September 2024