HM Treasury has published its annual report assessing how the Women in Finance Charter has progressed. It says that in 2024 80% of the 205 signatories met or were on track to meet their targets for female representation in senior management, with the average number of women in senior roles in financial services standing at 36% – an increase of 9% since the Charter started in 2016. Key findings from the larger entities (with over 250 staff) include:
- UK banks and insurers are leading the way;
- signatories remain focussed on recruitment but also see the importance of retention;
- linking diversity to executive pay has been effective;
- 20 signatories missed their deadlines but many of them were close – and the most common reason for missing the targets was because of structural changes impacting the institution’s senior management;
- overall there is a consistent uptick in female representation and if the current trajectory continues, the signatory average should reach parity in 2038;
- 2025 will be an interesting year, with nearly half the cohort having set targets deadlines for this year.
SMEs generally have more ambitious targets but 90% of those have either met or are on track to meet them.
The report also looks at what firms are doing to keep momentum going and raised a number of points for discussion.