Women in Finance Charter annual review: how much has changed since last year?

In 2016, The Women in Finance Charter was launched to "reflect the government’s aspiration to see gender balance at all levels across financial services firms," by increasing female representation in senior management. 

In the words of the Charter, "a balanced workforce is good for business – it is good for customers, for profitability and workplace culture, and is increasingly attractive for investors," and over the last nine years, the number of signatories has grown to approximately 405 firms, covering 1.3 million employees across the sector. 

In April 2025, the eighth annual review of the Charter was released, analysing how 205 of its signatories are progressing against their targets, as well as against the commitments and four key principles of the Charter, listed as the following:

• Having one member of the senior executive team who is responsible and accountable for gender diversity and inclusion.
• Setting internal targets for gender diversity in senior management.
• Publishing progress annually against these targets in reports on the company's website.
• Having an intention to ensure the pay of the senior executive team is linked to delivery against these internal targets on gender diversity.

Where progress has been made  

Meeting targets

The review revealed that 36% (over a third) of these 205 signatories have met their targets for female representation in senior management, while a further 44% are on track to meet them. This means that the majority of signatories analysed in the review are making solid progress in this area. 

The average female representation in senior management also continued its upward trajectory, increasing from 35% in 2023 to 36% in 2024, keeping in line with the one percentage point rise year-on-year since the launch of the Charter, with the exception of 2021. 

If this consistency continues across further reviews of the Charter, female representation in senior management across the signatory average would reach parity (50%) in 2038.

Recruitment to retention

One of the biggest changes noted in the Charter was a shift in focus from actions related to recruitment to retention, behaviour and culture, and embedding D&I into business. While recruitment actions were still the ones most frequently mentioned by signatories, this review of the Charter observed that concepts initially rolled out in recruitment were then rolled out across other areas of the business, such as implementing a 50:50 shortlist for new hires, and then using the same process in succession plans.

In terms of overall female representation in the financial services sector, retention in particular has become an increasingly prominent topic of discussion in recent years. Major UK banks report that women make up 45-60% of their workforce, but only 19.4% of the top 1% of earners in banking and finance are women, which is still lower than before the pandemic. This indicates a problem that is reflected across Financial Services – the higher the career level, the lower the levels of female representation.

Therefore, this review suggests that more firms are realising the importance of retention, with two-fifths of signatories offering internal or cross-firm mentoring and coaching programmes, 86 reporting that they are actively identifying and developing internal female talent to help more women progress into senior management roles, and 73 mentioning the use of female leadership programmes.

Over a third of signatories also cited flexible/hybrid working as a method of both female recruitment and retention. According to the World Economic Forum, a fifth of women say that flexible working helps them to stay in their jobs and has not discouraged them from aiming for more senior roles.

Where work still needs to be done...

Falling off track

The review noted that of the 60 signatories that had target deadlines in 2024, 20 missed their targets, most commonly due to structural changes impacting their senior management population. 

Furthermore, the data of these signatories taken from previous years suggests that it is difficult for signatories to get back on track when they fall below their annualised rate, with 14 of the 20 firms having been below their required rate in 2023.

This does not bode well for several of the signatories that still have targets to meet. Although 81% of them estimate that they are still on track to meet their targets, 71% of them are currently below their required annualised rate of increase in female representation.

Slowed progress 

There is also the risk of economic and geopolitical challenges affecting the steady one percentage point increase of female representation in senior management. In 2021, the average stagnated at 33% due to the long-term impact of Covid-19.

On top of this, the lowest-performing sectors reviewed by the Charter, such as global and investment banks, still have much further to go than 2038 before they reach parity, and Financial Services remain one of the lowest performing sectors when it comes to the gender pay gap – a recent study by Bloomberg revealed that on average, women working in Financial Services earn one-fifth less than their male colleagues.

What are the next steps?

At the Women’s Recognition Awards, we aim to recognise the firms and individuals who are pushing to make the mortgage, protection, and specialist lending space a better place to work for women and all underrepresented groups, fighting back to try and improve the statistics and increase equity, diversity, and inclusion across the industry. 

This year, the awards are supported by headline sponsor London & Country Mortgages (L&C). Gemma Bacon, Chief Marketing Officer at L&C, said of this annual review of the Women in Finance Charter:

"The review provides great insight and a useful snapshot of how the Charter is helping organisations challenge themselves to improve female representation in senior roles. It also underlines how much further there is to go and how the industry will need to not only maintain momentum but add further impetus. 

"More diversity in senior management will have benefits for the whole industry. Things take time to change and it’s positive to see those changes feeding through but there’s no room for complacency."

Nominations for the Women’s Recognition Awards 2025 are open until 20th June. So if you or someone you know is a force for change in the industry, nominate them for an award today!