Two Chartered Financial Planning firms have joined some of the biggest names in financial services by signing up to the Women in Finance Charter.

London-based Mazars Financial Planning and Cameron and Company Financial Planning in Worcester, run by Chartered planner Eugénie Cameron FPFS, are among the latest batch of 45 to sign the commitment to tackle gender inequality in financial services. Sesame Bankhall is also among the latest to add its name.
Other new sign ups include The Financial Compensation Services Scheme, Hargreaves Landsdown, Goldman Sachs, UBS, and Visa.
Brown Shipley, Investec, Brewin Dolphin, and Sainsbury’s Bank have also signed up. See full list below.

The Women in Finance Charter, signed by 205 firms, now covers over 650,000 UK financial services employees.

Prime Minister Theresa May said: “More than 200 major financial institutions have now committed to improve the gender balance at the top of their organisation.

“This is an important step forward, not just because this is about fairness, or simply about giving women an equal opportunity to get on, but because our workplaces are greatly enriched by different approaches.

“Time and again, I have seen first-hand how women can bring fresh thinking and new perspectives. And I know the commitment that women put into their jobs on a daily basis.

“But, of course, there is still more to do be done and I look forward to seeing these companies really delivering on their targets over the next few years.

Lisa Winnard, HR & business services director at Sesame Bankhall Group, said: “Equality and diversity are at the heart of our organisation’s culture, so signing the Women in Finance Charter was a natural step for our group. We believe that a more diverse and inclusive workplace creates a better environment for people to thrive and achieve their full potential. 

“It helps to improve innovation, decision making and customer service. This not only benefits businesses, but it also has a positive wider impact on society and the economy.”

Other new signatories to the Charter include the City of London Corporation, Sainsbury’s Bank, and the British Business Bank.

The Women in Finance Charter’s first Annual Review, which is also out today, showed that:

• 28% of signatories have already met their targets for female representation in senior management
• 57% of the Charter’s signatories are on track to meet their future targets
• 78% of signatories either maintained or increased the proportion of women in senior management in the reporting period
• the percentage of women amongst senior managers in the signatory firms increased by 3% on average in the first year

The 45 new firms that signed the Charter between November 2017 and end February 2018 are:

1. Aon
2. Bank of Ireland (UK) plc
3. Banking Standards Board
4. Barcadia Media Ltd
5. BFC Bank Limited
6. BNP Paribas London CIB
7. Brewin Dolphin
8. British Business Bank
9. British Insurance Brokers’ Association
10. Brown Shipley
11. Cameron and Company Financial Planning Ltd
12. Charter Court Financial Services plc
13. City of London Corporation
14. Close Brothers Group Plc
15. Crowdcube
16. Danske Bank
17. Financial Services Compensation Scheme
18. Goldman Sachs International
19. Hargreaves Lansdown
20. House of Beaufort
21. Invesco
22. Investec Bank plc
23. Investec Wealth & Investment
24. Investing Ethically Ltd
25. IPC Systems
26. Just Group plc
27. LGT Vestra
28. Man Group plc
29. Mazars
30. Metro Bank PLC
31. Motor Insurers’ Bureau
32. OMFIF
33. QBE European Operations
34. rebuildingsociety.com
35. Sainsbury’s Bank
36. Sesame Bankhall Group
37. The Alternative Investment Management Association
38. The Board of the Pension Protection Fund
39. The British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association
40. TotallyMoney
41. UBS
42. Visa
43. Wellington Management International Ltd
44. Wesleyan Assurance Society
45. XL Catlin