This woman’s work
02 October 2018
The financial services industry suffers underrepresentation of women in its senior roles, but there is progress to solve this and ongoing improvements for equality
Image: Shutterstock
Less than one in five of C-suite positions are held by women in the financial services industry, according to a McKinsey & Company report, entitled: ‘Closing the gap: Leadership perspectives on promoting women in financial services’.
Early in their tenure, women are 24 percent less likely to attain their first promotion than their male peers, even though they request promotions at similar rates. Over half of the senior women surveyed—those who have reached the level of vice president or above—believe they have missed out on opportunities because of their gender, compared to just 10 percent of their male peers.
The survey found women of colour are particularly disadvantaged: they are 34 percent less likely to make their first promotion than men in financial services.
Asheet Mehta, global co-leader of McKinsey’s global banking practice, says: “Our research has shown that tackling gender parity in the financial services industry yields dividends—in terms of the bottom line and other performance measures, and in retaining and attracting talent.”
She adds: “Making progress on this issue will require corporate leaders—both male and female—to view gender equality as a strategic priority, and one that is integrated into the organisation’s day-to-day work.”
With this in mind, how do we close the gap without creating another type of inequality and a new debate on bias? How can we increase diversity, yet still genuinely pick the right person for the job, based purely on merit and experience?
Representation: girls just wanna have equal opportunities
Securities lending is of course a very niche part of the market, under the securities finance umbrella—and a part of the market not many people on the street would necessarily be aware of. Many think diversity within this niche part of securities services should be increased and it is showing signs of improvement.
As Fiona Mitchell, senior securities lending sales and relationship manager at Northern Trust, reflects: “Securities lending is a specialised area [...] it’s tough in terms of levelling the playing field, but it’s encouraging to see the industry’s attention on this issue.”
Natalie Float, head of market and financing services for Asia-Pacific, BNP Paribas Securities Services, says the initiative is not to push aside men at all.
As Float articulates: “BNP Paribas has a number of women in senior or key positions and it’s not by accident or gender construct—the bank simply looks for the best fit and has both a senior management team who are confident enough to build the best teams looking at a broad range of skills, without bias, and creates an environment where women have the confidence to step into these roles.”
Importantly, she adds: “Equality is broader than gender—the bank considers diversity from all angles be it gender, age or nationality, etc–we aim to construct the best team for our clients.”
“I don’t support the idea of receiving a role because of my gender [...] otherwise we could create another type of inequality and a new discussion on bias. Taking on a new role is about potential—the person making the decision is looking at prior experience but also projecting ahead for potential.”
Many institutions are actively taking steps to bring about change in gender equality, but also ethnicity and nationality too.
Simone Broadfield, head of agency securities lending, APAC at BNP Paribas, says: “Efforts around diversity and equality have definitely improved in recent years. We need to continue to build on some of the good initiatives already in place to ensure momentum is not lost.”
She adds: “There is also always the risk of being accused of positive discrimination due to quota targets and hiring policies, but you do need to start somewhere.”
Where to begin
Just as children start their general education early in life, there’s no better place to start than the beginning in terms of educating young girls and giving them insights and opportunities into the world of finance.
Mitchell says: “Through working with schools, universities and engaging in mentoring programmes across our businesses, we can help women take advantage of the opportunities that exist.”
She adds: “One of our biggest priorities is to make sure that we build a pipeline of women in junior and entry level roles, whilst supporting women through their careers so that they can progress into more senior positions.”
As women progress in their careers, talent, leadership and mentoring programmes can, where appropriate, yield excellent results in addressing attrition rates, according to Broadfield.
She says: “Some obvious points would be to increase the engagement of approachable senior females with junior staff, ensure that remuneration is fair and aligned with male peers, as well as ensuring that adequate support is given at pivotal points in women’s lives and careers via fair maternity policies, flexible work policies where possible, and the operation of return to work schemes.”
“There are some roles in my opinion, for example trading, to which some policies are difficult to apply and for those roles it becomes a personal career choice.”
Securities lending top priorities
How can the aforementioned efforts towards more inclusivity help current obstacles and challenges the industry is currently facing?
Mitchell advocates “businesses with greater gender diversity perform better and are more profitable”.
“This is also true for companies with greater ethnic and cultural diversity and it is encouraging to see that there are a number of initiatives that are directly addressing this at Northern Trust.”
As the securities lending industry grapples with regulation—especially the looming Securities Financing Transaction Regulation (SFTR), as well as technology disruptors and opportunities, it seems like the perfect time to collaborate, innovate and search for the best talent from every background.
Sabine Farhat-Dupla, head of securities finance product management at Murex, states: “As the market continues to evolve quickly, trading desks are being consolidated, the regulatory burden is increasing, and technology is becoming more advanced.”
Float says: “As we all have roles in global banks and have global clients, we need to be advocates for our markets and activities.”
“For example, if you take China—all of our clients around the world want to be ready and invested, but they need to know that they cannot only enter but also exit the market, and what the tax implications are.”
“This level of detail—going beyond the headlines—is a challenge and somewhere we can add the most value for our clients.”
Current efforts and initiatives
Of course levels of diversity can vary from region to region and can be dependant on the job level. For example, a company could be praised for the amount of diversity it shows in its junior roles, but the senior level may be glossed over, or vice versa.
Broadfield says: “Broadly speaking, [in] securities lending representation of females is typically strong at a junior level and begins to wane significantly at a more senior level due to choices that women often have to make at pivotal moments in their career. This does of course vary region to region and is also heavily dependent upon the corporate culture at the companies who are active within our industry.”
But she adds: “I am proud to say that the corporate culture at BNP Paribas Securities Services is refreshingly positive with a clear and genuine focus from senior management as to the identification and retention of female talent.”
“Within securities services we can state that we have female representation at a junior to senior level, across all securities lending product functions in every region globally.”
The Nordic region is advanced in terms of its establishment of a strong gender balance, according to Mitchell. She says: “I see opportunities for organisations to follow their clear example.”
In addition, Northern Trust has signed up to the Women in Finance Charter which has set a target to increase the number of women in senior management roles in the UK to 35 percent by December 2020 and, according to Mitchell, the company is well placed to achieve this.
Northern Trust is also a corporate member of the London Women’s Forum, a network for senior female leaders in London’s financial services.
She adds: “At Northern Trust I am co-chair of the Women in Leadership Committee in London—a global group that aims to support women in our organisation.”
“Women who are already in the industry have a crucial role to play by mentoring and reaching out through their own networks to encourage new talent, however it’s also incumbent on all of us to take the lead in driving change and ensuring we have a diverse and inclusive work environment.”
Murex actively supports Teen-Turn in Ireland and All Girls Code in Lebanon, inspiring girls to get involved in technology from an early age.
Farhat-Dupla states: “We encourage diversity and are actively supportive of some great initiatives.”
Looking to the future, Farhat-Dupla says: “The number of women working in securities lending is low, but I am hopeful for the future.”
She adds, that the capital markets are “a dynamic and exciting place to work, particularly from a software perspective”.
“We need to show ambitious girls that when it comes to capital markets careers, the sky’s the limit.”
Mitchell concludes: “I strongly believe if we continue to develop these [aforementioned] networks and support these initiatives, making sure there are policies in place to support women, we will start to see genuine change.”
Early in their tenure, women are 24 percent less likely to attain their first promotion than their male peers, even though they request promotions at similar rates. Over half of the senior women surveyed—those who have reached the level of vice president or above—believe they have missed out on opportunities because of their gender, compared to just 10 percent of their male peers.
The survey found women of colour are particularly disadvantaged: they are 34 percent less likely to make their first promotion than men in financial services.
Asheet Mehta, global co-leader of McKinsey’s global banking practice, says: “Our research has shown that tackling gender parity in the financial services industry yields dividends—in terms of the bottom line and other performance measures, and in retaining and attracting talent.”
She adds: “Making progress on this issue will require corporate leaders—both male and female—to view gender equality as a strategic priority, and one that is integrated into the organisation’s day-to-day work.”
With this in mind, how do we close the gap without creating another type of inequality and a new debate on bias? How can we increase diversity, yet still genuinely pick the right person for the job, based purely on merit and experience?
Representation: girls just wanna have equal opportunities
Securities lending is of course a very niche part of the market, under the securities finance umbrella—and a part of the market not many people on the street would necessarily be aware of. Many think diversity within this niche part of securities services should be increased and it is showing signs of improvement.
As Fiona Mitchell, senior securities lending sales and relationship manager at Northern Trust, reflects: “Securities lending is a specialised area [...] it’s tough in terms of levelling the playing field, but it’s encouraging to see the industry’s attention on this issue.”
Natalie Float, head of market and financing services for Asia-Pacific, BNP Paribas Securities Services, says the initiative is not to push aside men at all.
As Float articulates: “BNP Paribas has a number of women in senior or key positions and it’s not by accident or gender construct—the bank simply looks for the best fit and has both a senior management team who are confident enough to build the best teams looking at a broad range of skills, without bias, and creates an environment where women have the confidence to step into these roles.”
Importantly, she adds: “Equality is broader than gender—the bank considers diversity from all angles be it gender, age or nationality, etc–we aim to construct the best team for our clients.”
“I don’t support the idea of receiving a role because of my gender [...] otherwise we could create another type of inequality and a new discussion on bias. Taking on a new role is about potential—the person making the decision is looking at prior experience but also projecting ahead for potential.”
Many institutions are actively taking steps to bring about change in gender equality, but also ethnicity and nationality too.
Simone Broadfield, head of agency securities lending, APAC at BNP Paribas, says: “Efforts around diversity and equality have definitely improved in recent years. We need to continue to build on some of the good initiatives already in place to ensure momentum is not lost.”
She adds: “There is also always the risk of being accused of positive discrimination due to quota targets and hiring policies, but you do need to start somewhere.”
Where to begin
Just as children start their general education early in life, there’s no better place to start than the beginning in terms of educating young girls and giving them insights and opportunities into the world of finance.
Mitchell says: “Through working with schools, universities and engaging in mentoring programmes across our businesses, we can help women take advantage of the opportunities that exist.”
She adds: “One of our biggest priorities is to make sure that we build a pipeline of women in junior and entry level roles, whilst supporting women through their careers so that they can progress into more senior positions.”
As women progress in their careers, talent, leadership and mentoring programmes can, where appropriate, yield excellent results in addressing attrition rates, according to Broadfield.
She says: “Some obvious points would be to increase the engagement of approachable senior females with junior staff, ensure that remuneration is fair and aligned with male peers, as well as ensuring that adequate support is given at pivotal points in women’s lives and careers via fair maternity policies, flexible work policies where possible, and the operation of return to work schemes.”
“There are some roles in my opinion, for example trading, to which some policies are difficult to apply and for those roles it becomes a personal career choice.”
Securities lending top priorities
How can the aforementioned efforts towards more inclusivity help current obstacles and challenges the industry is currently facing?
Mitchell advocates “businesses with greater gender diversity perform better and are more profitable”.
“This is also true for companies with greater ethnic and cultural diversity and it is encouraging to see that there are a number of initiatives that are directly addressing this at Northern Trust.”
As the securities lending industry grapples with regulation—especially the looming Securities Financing Transaction Regulation (SFTR), as well as technology disruptors and opportunities, it seems like the perfect time to collaborate, innovate and search for the best talent from every background.
Sabine Farhat-Dupla, head of securities finance product management at Murex, states: “As the market continues to evolve quickly, trading desks are being consolidated, the regulatory burden is increasing, and technology is becoming more advanced.”
Float says: “As we all have roles in global banks and have global clients, we need to be advocates for our markets and activities.”
“For example, if you take China—all of our clients around the world want to be ready and invested, but they need to know that they cannot only enter but also exit the market, and what the tax implications are.”
“This level of detail—going beyond the headlines—is a challenge and somewhere we can add the most value for our clients.”
Current efforts and initiatives
Of course levels of diversity can vary from region to region and can be dependant on the job level. For example, a company could be praised for the amount of diversity it shows in its junior roles, but the senior level may be glossed over, or vice versa.
Broadfield says: “Broadly speaking, [in] securities lending representation of females is typically strong at a junior level and begins to wane significantly at a more senior level due to choices that women often have to make at pivotal moments in their career. This does of course vary region to region and is also heavily dependent upon the corporate culture at the companies who are active within our industry.”
But she adds: “I am proud to say that the corporate culture at BNP Paribas Securities Services is refreshingly positive with a clear and genuine focus from senior management as to the identification and retention of female talent.”
“Within securities services we can state that we have female representation at a junior to senior level, across all securities lending product functions in every region globally.”
The Nordic region is advanced in terms of its establishment of a strong gender balance, according to Mitchell. She says: “I see opportunities for organisations to follow their clear example.”
In addition, Northern Trust has signed up to the Women in Finance Charter which has set a target to increase the number of women in senior management roles in the UK to 35 percent by December 2020 and, according to Mitchell, the company is well placed to achieve this.
Northern Trust is also a corporate member of the London Women’s Forum, a network for senior female leaders in London’s financial services.
She adds: “At Northern Trust I am co-chair of the Women in Leadership Committee in London—a global group that aims to support women in our organisation.”
“Women who are already in the industry have a crucial role to play by mentoring and reaching out through their own networks to encourage new talent, however it’s also incumbent on all of us to take the lead in driving change and ensuring we have a diverse and inclusive work environment.”
Murex actively supports Teen-Turn in Ireland and All Girls Code in Lebanon, inspiring girls to get involved in technology from an early age.
Farhat-Dupla states: “We encourage diversity and are actively supportive of some great initiatives.”
Looking to the future, Farhat-Dupla says: “The number of women working in securities lending is low, but I am hopeful for the future.”
She adds, that the capital markets are “a dynamic and exciting place to work, particularly from a software perspective”.
“We need to show ambitious girls that when it comes to capital markets careers, the sky’s the limit.”
Mitchell concludes: “I strongly believe if we continue to develop these [aforementioned] networks and support these initiatives, making sure there are policies in place to support women, we will start to see genuine change.”
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