More Financial Planning firms have signed up for the Treasury-backed Women in Finance Charter despite news that some organisations have missed targets, including the CII.

Among the new Financial Planning and wealth management signatories are Progeny Wealth, Unividual, Rothschild & Co, True Bearing and Wealth Matters (full list below)

While most firms are achieving their gender diversity targets a small number of financial organisations have missed 2019 targets, including the CII, the Financial Ombudsman Service, Jupiter Asset Management and Schroders.

The Treasury said today that 42 new signatories have signed up to support the campaign to give women employees a better deal and better representation at senior level at financial firms and organisations.

The new signatories push up the total number of financial firms and organisations who have signed up to over 370.

The campaign is beginning to push through change at firms, according to the third Women in Finance annual review. This shows that the proportion of women in senior management has increased at Charter firms, with three out of four firms increasing or maintaining their proportion of women in top jobs in 2019.

Average female representation in senior management has increased from 30% in 2017 to 32% in 2019.

One third of firms signed up to the Charter have already met their targets for women in senior leadership. The rest have set targets for this year and beyond, which the majority report they are on track to meet, said the Treasury.

However, the report also shows that some organisations have slipped.

Five signatories with 2019 deadlines did not meet their targets were:

• Chartered Insurance Institute exceeded its target of 30% women in senior management in 2018, but was unable to maintain it in 2019.
• Financial Ombudsman Service has achieved parity at board and executive level but fell slightly short of its 50% goal across wider senior management.
• Jupiter Asset Management met its target at board level and for overall staff, but missed its 30%-50% target for both senior management and executive level.
• MetLife achieved 45% of senior management positions held by women, against a goal of 50%, following a team restructuring after its London office closed.
• Schroders met its original target of 30% female representation in senior management globally in 2017, so set a more challenging goal of 33%. It fell just short of its revised target.

City Minister John Glen, said: “I am determined to see financial services firms improve their gender diversity. Today’s figures show that progress is being made, but that there is still a great deal more to do.”