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UK Finance: Women's Partner Role Declines Slightly
6 Mar
Summary
- Women held 15.26% of UK financial services partner roles.
- This represents a 0.1% decrease from the previous year.
- Recruitment and promotion practices may hinder progress.
In the year concluding last July, women occupied 15.26% of partner positions across UK hedge funds, private equity firms, and other financial services. This figure marks a slight decline of 0.1% compared to the preceding year.
Data reveals that only 794 women served as partners, contrasting sharply with the 4,411 male partners in these firms. Experts caution that a lack of meaningful change in recruitment, retention, and promotion strategies could perpetuate these numbers for years.
Broader financial services sectors generally show higher diversity than private markets firms. Some attribute the slow progress in gender diversity to a potential backlash against diversity and inclusion policies following events in U.S. politics. Failing to advance gender diversity also increases the risk of legal claims.
The report, based on a freedom of information request to the Financial Conduct Authority, found that women held 18.6% of senior leadership roles across UK financial services businesses. However, in partnership-structured companies, this figure dropped to 15.3%.
