Women in Finance 2023 Summary

A Summary of HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter 2023

Significance

In 2016, the UK government introduced the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter, a pivotal initiative aimed at improving gender balance in senior management across the financial services sector. Today, with over 400 signatories covering 1.3 million employees, the Charter is driving accountability and transparency in advancing female representation.

This seventh annual review dives deep into the progress made by signatories, assessing how well they’ve met their gender diversity targets and analysing the actions taken to recruit, promote, and retain women in leadership roles. The data provides valuable insights into how firms are executing the Charter’s principles and highlights areas that still need attention.

The report assesses:

• Progress: It reviews the firms hitting or missing their targets, especially those surpassing expectations and what sets them apart.
• Driving Change: From recruitment to promotion, it analyses real examples of how firms are shifting the dial on gender diversity, including the impact of hybrid working and executive accountability.
• Ambition of Targets: A review of the ambition behind these targets and how firms define their senior management.

Methodology: Analysis includes data from the 202 signatories that signed the Charter before 2022 with at least 250 staff, anonymised and aggregated for confidentiality.

This review is a call to action for signatories to benchmark their efforts, reflect on their progress, and continue driving meaningful change. Gender balance isn’t just a fairness issue—it’s a business imperative.

Headline Statistics

• Driving Change: Signatories are focusing on recruitment, promotion, and retention of women, with hybrid working becoming standard practice.
• Female Representation: The average female representation in senior management increased to 35% in 2023, up from 34% in 2022. At this pace, parity is expected by 2038.
• Meeting Targets: 36% of the 202 signatories met or exceeded their targets in 2023, with an average target of 38%.
• On Track: 40% of signatories with future deadlines are on track to meet their targets.
• Sector Differences: UK banks and insurers lead with higher female representation compared to investment managers and global/investment banks.
• Retention Focus: 85%of signatories are taking actions to develop internal talent, up from 70% in 2022.
• Diversity Data: 85%of signatories are capturing additional diversity data, with ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation being the most common datapoints.
• Link to Pay: 70% of signatories reported that linking diversity targets to executive pay has been effective, up from 49% in 2020.
• Publishing Updates: 86% of signatories published their progress on their company websites, though only 38% included all required details.

The 2023 review shows progress, but there’s more to be done on gender diversity. Companies must stay agile, seize change as an opportunity, and consistently drive efforts to boost female representation. Lagging sectors must act quickly, leveraging data and aligning pay with diversity goals. Tackling cultural challenges and making transparency a priority is key. Large firms, especially in investment banking, must lead the charge, using Charter data to benchmark and refine their strategies.