Driving diversity

While culture and diversity have both moved up the agenda of the financial services industry, most firms treat them as distinct issues with discrete initiatives and separate reporting lines. Our analysis finds diversity and culture are closely interconnected and that a more holistic approach to both would yield better – and faster – results. Diversity and Culture analyses the differences and similarities in how companies approach diversity and culture and why it matters.

HM Treasury in collaboration with New Financial present the launch event of the second Annual Review of the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter, hosted by the City of London Corporation. This is an opportunity to gain insight into the progress of Charter signatories, celebrate successes, discuss best practice around the principles of the Charter, […]

While culture and diversity have moved up the agenda of the financial services industry for similar reasons, most firms treat them as distinct issues with discrete initiatives and separate reporting lines. Our analysis finds diversity and culture are closely interconnected and that a more holistic approach to both would yield better – and faster – […]

The event will take place just as we reach crunch time in the 2nd round of reporting cycle and will focus on what has been learned from the first round of reporting, actions being taken to address the pay gap, as well as reflections on internal and external reactions to the report. This is an […]

There is broad consensus that diverse voices enhance investment performance by increasing diversity of thought, which improves decision-making and investment idea generation while guarding against groupthink. But the industry has a long road ahead to cultivate the diverse workforce that can bring all these benefits. This report identifies the practical barriers to diversity in portfolio management, analyses what individual firms are doing to address these challenges – and highlights how the industry can work together to accelerate change.

We interviewed Wendy for our groundbreaking 2017 research, Diversity from an Investor’s Perspective, and are very excited to be hosting her for an event series with New Financial members. Wendy is fiercely passionate about the importance of diversity to everyday business, economic development and wider society, and has a broad view of the diversity agenda […]

At this breakfast with Julia Hoggett, director of market oversight at the Financial Conduct Authority, we will discuss why and how diversity is being incorporated into regulatory discussions. Julia joined the FCA from Bank of America Merrill Lynch where she was managing director, responsible for a range of debt capital markets products including European Commercial […]

Our latest research looks at the asset management sector, and specifically portfolio managers, to better understand the barriers to progression for women and people of diverse backgrounds and offer a menu of ideas from asset management companies to tackle those barriers, in order to encourage a shift in thinking from lowest common denominator to best-in-class […]

Our unique analysis of the gender pay gap data at nearly 400 firms from across the financial services industry highlights the wide range in the pay gap, bonus gap, and levels of female representation in different sectors of the banking and finance industry – and sets a benchmark to measure future progress.

At our latest event in New Financial’s breakfast series we will be trying to broaden our understanding of cognitive diversity, including Q&A with Simon Fillery, head of inclusion at the Bank of England, as our guest speaker. The Bank has undertaken an internal project to work out what diversity of thought means to the Bank, […]

With an ever-increasing focus on the diversity agenda, what are financial services firms doing to bring their incumbent population (which for most will be predominantly white men) along with them on the road to improving diversity? How can firms work on communicating with their staff so they don’t feel alienated and de-prioritised? This breakfast will […]

This breakfast event will focus on discussing the benefits and challenges of collecting and analysing social mobility indicators. We are very pleased to have Dr Sam Friedman, associate professor in sociology at the London School of Economics, as our guest speaker. Sam’s research contributed to the UK Government’s consultation to develop a set of measures […]

The UK government launched the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter in March 2016 to encourage the financial industry to improve gender balance in senior management. This report is the first annual review of signatories to monitor their progress against their Charter commitments over the past year. And while they are off to an encouraging start – 85% have either met their targets or are on track to meet them – progress has so far been slow.

By April 2018, companies in the UK with 250 or more employees had to publish certain information regarding the pay gap between male and female employees. For many firms, the reporting process has been challenging, and the results have sometimes been confusing (particularly given the occasional misunderstanding in the media of what the gender pay gap […]

Our recent research report on ‘Diversity from an Investor’s Perspective’ showed how some of the most progressive pensions funds and asset owners are putting pressure on their asset managers to improve diversity. At this breakfast Jackie Turpin, head of finance at the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, will discuss what the Trust has been doing in […]

Diversity is firmly on the corporate agenda. New Financial’s latest report  looks for the first time at what asset owners (such as pension funds, insurers and sovereign wealth funds) are doing on the diversity front. We analysed 100 asset owners globally with combined assets of $8 trillion to find out why and how they are approaching diversity – and how this affects asset managers.

Diversity of thought and a willingness to challenge group think are essential aspects of diversity, particularly in financial services. This year, the Banking Standards Board published the findings of its annual assessment exercise conducted with 22 member firms and generating 28,000 responses.  One-third of those surveyed said that people in their organisation become defensive when their views […]

HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter launched in March 2016 and now has more than 140 signatories. Our latest report is based on a survey of more than 80 firms that have signed up and assesses the concrete impact of the Charter is having on how they approach diversity, the benefits they are experiencing – and the challenges they face in meeting their Charter commitments.

The debate around gender diversity at the most senior levels in the corporate world has shot up the agenda in recent years – but for all the talk, how much progress has been made in the financial services sector? New Financial’s latest research on female representation on boards and executive committees across European capital markets shows a significant improvement in female representation on boards and excos – and the numbers are heading in the right direction across the industry.

At this dinner on neurodiversity, Ray Coyle, UK chief executive of Auticon will discuss the benefits and challenges of working with staff on the autism spectrum. Auticon specialises in placing IT and compliance consultants who are autistic. Ray will share his views on the benefits of neurodiversity, the common misconceptions about working with autistic colleagues, and offer […]

The Bank of England has been working hard to encourage staff to share information on diversity characteristics, including sexuality, disability, gender, ethnicity, carer status and religion. According to the Bank’s 2016 annual report, more than 80% of staff are comfortable about sharing their diversity data, LGBT disclosure has increased to 2.5% from 2%, disability disclosure […]

Upcoming breakfast event to discuss the Financial Reporting Council’s research into corporate culture. We are very pleased to have Anna Colban, one of the authors of the FRC’s report, as our guest speaker. Last year, the FRC undertook an extensive consultation to better understand how companies address culture, to encourage debate and identify good practice […]

With initiatives such as the HMT Women in Finance Charter and New Financial’s own diversity disclosure research there is ever-growing pressure on financial services companies to disclose more data on diversity. While there are many firms who see the benefits of being open and transparent, there are many common arguments made against disclosure, such as: ‘legal says […]

The financial services industry has the widest gender pay gap of any sector in the UK and many firms are concerned that the number they have to publish next year won’t look pretty . This breakfast discussion with Sam Smethers, chief executive of The Fawcett Society, will explore what drives the gender pay gap in financial […]

The HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter, launched in March this year, is a call to action for better gender diversity in financial services. New Financial’s latest report, produced in collaboration with HM Treasury, analyses the submissions from the first wave of Charter signatories to establish the starting point for levels of women in senior management today, the targets signatories are aiming for – and how they plan to achieve them.

Gender balance in UK financial services has leapt up the agenda since the government asked Jayne-Anne Gadhia, chief executive of Virgin Money, to lead a review of women in senior management, and launched the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter in March 2016. The first 71 firms to sign the Charter made their submissions both […]

Here is a selection of recent academic papers and speeches on pay and diversity that we have read, sifted and translated so that you don’t have to. This selection includes research on why the problem with executive pay could be worse than you think; a history of executive pay since the 1930s; how stock awards reduce systemic risk in banking; the limitations of ‘say on pay’; how social networks between analysts and fund managers affect their investment decisions (and why female board members in Singapore play golf); and why the financial services industry needs to address diversity.

The Gadhia Review and HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter have pushed gender diversity in the financial services industry back up the agenda. The latest workshop in our diversity breakfast series will focus on how some of the principles outlined in Jayne-Anne Gadhia’s report can be applied to to other areas of diversity beyond gender. Simon Fillery, […]

Gender balance in UK financial services has leapt up the agenda since the government asked Jayne-Anne Gadhia, chief executive of Virgin Money, to lead a review of women in senior management, and launched HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter. New Financial’s latest report looks at the context of the Gadhia Review and the Charter and discusses how the industry can engage with these initiatives as an important stepping stone towards permanent, sustainable change.

Due to overwhelming demand we are re-running this diversity breakfast to discuss implementing the recommendations of the Gadhia review into women in financial services, and what it means to be a Women in Finance charter signatory. It will include discussion of the following themes: Signing the charter – How have the Gadhia recommendations been received […]