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Finding the best route into the fi nancial industry

Overcoming the obstacles and climbing the ladder

The need for more senior women in

fi nance

WOMEN IN FINANCE

Government initiatives: Jo Swinson, Minister for Women and Equalitiesdiscusses the steps being taken to promote women in the fi nancial industry

PROMOTING EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

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Insight from leading women in the

industry

No. 1 / May 2013Distributed within The Independent

Begin your career

Growth and progression

Women on boards

Ask the experts

2 · MAY 2013 A SUPPLEMENT BY MEDIAPLANET DISTRIBUTED WITHIN THE INDEPENDENT

Encouraging women into careers in fi nance

WHO SAYS, ‘IT’S A MAN’S WORLD’CityJobs.com stands in proud support of equal employment opportunities in the workplace, encouraging women in the finance industry to succeed at the very highest levels.

To find and apply for jobs , please visit www.cityjobs.com

I am delighted to introduce this publication, celebrating the important and growing contribution women make within the fi nancial services sector. As the owner of the Women in Business Network (WIBN), I always want to champion the enthusiasm and knowledge that women o� er, says Lindsay Loxley.

‘If you know it’s what you want to do, try to start early’

Lisa Doole Associate, PWC

Page 8

WOMEN IN FINANCE1ST EDITION, MAY 2013

Managing Director: Chris EmbersonEditorial and Production Manager: Faye GodfreyBusiness Developer: Lee Harrison

Responsible for this issue:Project Manager: Charlotte Dingwall-FordycePhone: 07789 953715E-mail: [email protected]

Distributed with: The Independent

Mediaplanet contact information: Phone: 020 3642 0737 E-mail: [email protected]

With thanks to:

We make our readers succeed!When I j o i n e d the in-d u s t r y in the 1 9 8 0 s , it was

a di� erent world. I vividly remem-ber attending a conference with my new boss where he introduced me to his business contacts. At one point I happened to be standing near the bu� et when a man came up to me and said: “You girls have worked re-ally hard today.” It took me a mo-ment to realise he thought I was a member of the catering sta� .

Fortunately, I no longer meet peo-ple with that attitude, but I am often still alone or one of just a few women at conferences and meetings. The fi -nance sector used to be male domi-nated and sometimes chauvinistic towards women. Now it is still male dominated but there are opportuni-ties for women to land their dream

job in one of the fi nance profes-sions, provided they have the neces-sary determination to succeed. And there are times when being a wom-an can be a signifi cant advantage. When meeting clients, for example, I fi nd they seem prepared to discuss personal matters that they might not want to reveal to a man, such as health or money concerns. That makes it easier for me to tailor my fi -nancial advice accordingly and o� er a better service.

To reach the top, however, I feel that women often need to work hard-er, particularly if they are juggling ca-reer and family. When I began work-ing as an independent fi nancial ad-viser I was a divorced single mother and needed to arrange my working life around my young family, which meant working while they were asleep. And although I now have my own company, Compass Financial Management, there is still no such thing as a nine-to-fi ve day.

Clearly, running a business isn’t for everyone but it’s important that women are given more encourage-ment to pursue the many di� erent careers available in the fi nancial sector, from a greater emphasis on numeracy skills and understanding

basic fi nance in schools, to ensuring they are able to return to work after having children.

Women themselves must be ready to reach out for help and guidance. Networking organisations like WIBN are great places to fi nd support and advice from other professional and entrepreneurial women, as well as business leads; while groups such as Women in Banking and Finance run mentoring programmes so that wom-en can develop their confi dence with the encouragement and direction of experienced professionals.

Finally, the contribution that wom-en make within the fi nance sector and in business has been underval-ued in the past. That has to change. If we want to encourage more wom-en to choose fi nance as a career, there needs to be more women on compa-ny boards and in senior roles to in-spire and champion them. Compa-nies which recognise this have every-thing to gain.

Lindsay Loxley, Owner, Women in Business Network (WIBN)

CHALLENGES

With thanks to:

WE RECOMMEND


Promoting the cause of women in business is now high up on the gov-ernment’s agenda. In an attempt to promote women across all walks of working life, including such tradi-tionally male dominated fi elds as fi -nance, there is now a series of gov-ernment initiatives aimed at pro-moting female corporate interests.

So what can be done to get women in to the boardroom? “The Women’s Business Council was set up a year ago and is chaired by Ruby McGregor-Smith,” says Jo Swinson, Liberal Dem-ocrat MP for East Dunbartonshire and Minister for Women and Equalities. “It will be presenting its fi ndings next month, but we already know that one of the barriers to female success is car-ing responsibilities. For this reason, we are introducing a new system of shared parental leave and a new tax break for childcare costs worth up to £1,200 per child per year from 2015.” These proposals are very necessary.

In April, the Cranfi eld International Centre for Women Leaders report-ed that in the previous six months the percentage of female directors appointed to FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 boards had fallen to 26 per cent and 29 per cent respectively, far short of the 33 per cent required in order to reach Lord Davies’s target of a quar-ter of all board posts being fi lled by women by 2015, set out in 2011’s Women on Boards.

While pointing out that there has been progress, not least in that one third of new appointments to the

FTSE 100 over the last year have been women, Swinson accepts that the problem still exists. “We need to nur-ture talent and keep the issue high on the agenda,” she says. “It’s possi-ble that there’s a degree of compla-cency now that the issue of women on boards exists, although it’s actually gone from no women to one woman.”

This is particularly a challenge for that formerly male preserve, the fi -nance industry. “Careers advice and guidance in schools is crucial, espe-cially relating to the subjects girls choose to take as early as 15,” says

Swinson. “This will infl uence their choice of job. Then within the indus-try itself, there must be the option of more fl exible working and job shar-ing. Financial fi rms need to recog-nise that if they don’t address these issues they’ll be cutting off their nose to spite their own face because wom-en will take their talents elsewhere.”

Indeed, companies that offer fl exible working practices reap the benefi ts from male and female em-ployees alike, experiencing low-er staff turnover, less absenteeism and a more motivated and produc-tive workforce.

As far as addressing the issue of equal pay is concerned, the govern-ment is driving greater transpar-ency though a scheme called Think, Act, Report, to which more than 90 companies, with over 1.6 million employees, have signed up. And while the government favours a voluntary approach to tackling the problem, the Equality Act 2010 has recently been amended to give min-isters the power to require employ-ment tribunals to impose equal pay audits on employers where they are found to have broken the law. The future, clearly, is bright.

The battle for women in the boardroom

VIRGINIA BLACKBURN

[email protected]

■ Question: Have women

made progress in getting to

the top of major corporations

as directors and non-executive

directors in the boardroom?

■ Answer: Yes, but there is still

much work to be done and the

government is launching a raft of

initiatives to help.

NEWS

WOMEN ON BOARDS

“

Christopher Forbes Vice chairman, Forbes

One always wants to have the best employee possible. With 50 per cent of the workforce being female, one would be denying oneself half of the best candidates for a post if one didn’t consider hiring a woman!

COMMERCIAL FEATURE

■ State Street Corporation is one of the world’s leading providers of financial services to institutional investors and recently instituted a series of initiatives to promote the interests of women in finance.

“We started our Building an Inclusive Environment programme in 2011,” says Pauline Miller, vice president, Global In-clusion, EMEA. “The fi rst module tar-geted middle managers and we started by looking at all areas of inclusion, ask-ing what the gap was and what was pre-venting us from moving forward.”

The company instituted a live inter-active webinar, which comprised a vir-tual training programme over the in-ternet, focusing on raising awareness and understanding of unconscious bias, and providing tools for individu-als to address that bias. “It helps man-agers to understand how their own

behaviours and the quality of their de-cision making can be impacted by bi-as,” says Miller. “We also trained sen-ior managers to show that commit-ment and conviction come from the top down.”

The second programme, for all em-ployees, is a self-paced e-learning module connecting inclusion, diver-sity and bias to the business benefi ts. It is designed to help employees un-derstand the role they play in foster-ing inclusion. To ensure long-term change the modules have been em-bedded into recruitment, develop-ment and promotion processes. With

over 7,500 participating globally the results are already coming through. “We have seen an increase in the number of senior women in the or-ganisation, so much so that in EMEA last year 60 per cent of our senior ex-ecutive hires were women,” com-mented Miller.

With such commitment, women are making giant steps forward, although

of course they also have to adjusttheir own mindset. “When making a choice, let go of the guilt of not mak-ing other choices, and that goes for the work/life balance too,” says Ka-ren Keenan, executive vice president of State Street Global Markets, EMEA.

Pauline MillerVice president, Global Inclusion, EMEA, State Street Corporation

NEW PROGRAMMES SHOW FIRM’S COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

VIRGINIA BLACKBURN

[email protected]

As of 1 March 2013, the figures

show that within the FTSE 100:

■ Women now account for 17.3 per

cent of all directorships, up from

10.5 per cent in 2010.

■ Women account for 34 per cent

of all board appointments (45 out of

134 appointments).

■ There are currently 94 boards

with female representation.

■ There are now 192 women

directors on FTSE 100 boards out

of a total of 1,110.

SOURCE: WOMEN ON BOARDS 2ND ANNUAL PROGRESS

REPORT, LORD DAVIES OF ABERSOCH

Jo Swinson Minister for Women and Equalities

[email protected] 7692 4300


Young women graduating today should consider a career in fi nance

Looking back on my career, 24 years later, it is interesting to note that the bulk of my work has been in international financial mar-kets. While I did do my fair share of number crunching when I was an analyst and when I did my CFA, my success has relied upon my ability to build and maintain rela-tionships with clients and to build,

develop and lead high-performing teams. My career has taken me to a lot of interesting places around the world, and given me the opportu-nity to meet and work with some fantastic people, many of whom have become good friends. And I have seen and experienced some amazing events. This is the result of working in fi nancial markets.

Changes in the industryWhen I moved to London in 1991 to take up a job as a technical an-alyst in a City firm it was a very macho, male-dominated industry and there weren’t many senior fe-male role models. However, if you were able to put up with the chau-vinistic trading floor banter and get on with the job, it was possi-ble to develop a career. A trading floor wasn’t the easiest environ-ment for a woman, but I enjoyed

the work and thrived on the ex-citement of the markets.

Today there is much greater rec-ognition of the need for more di-verse teams and for more balanced styles. While the fi nancial indus-try has not yet achieved gender balance at the more senior lev-els, we have defi nitely smashed through the glass ceiling and have created some crawl space. There are many more senior female role models in universal banks, invest-ment banks, fund managers, in-surers and private equity houses, and there is also much better fe-male representation in industry groups and networks. There are al-so a number of dedicated women’s networks such as the City Wom-en Network, Women in Banking and Finance, 100 Women in Hedge Funds, Women in Listed Deriva-tives, etc. As a result, it’s much

easier for young women to envisage a career in fi nance and banking.

My advice to young women graduating today would be to look at finance and banking with a much more open mind than I did. While I don’t like to general-ise, women tend to be natural re-lationship builders and are there-fore well suited to client-facing roles. Many have argued that part of the blame for the financial cri-sis was the aggressive, risk-loving, male-dominated trading desks — therefore, better gender balance on the trading floor should result in a more balanced risk approach.

While the financial crisis has resulted in a lot of regulation to wade through and a more restric-tive environment for this indus-try, it remains a fast-paced and interesting sector where no two days are the same. We need to en-courage more young women to join the industry and to stick with it and help develop the executive pipeline. We are seeing real pro-gress in the number of female non-exec directors, but we need more female executive directors to really have an impact.

‘We are seeing real progress in the number of female non-exec directors, but we need more female executive directors to really have an impact’

Brenda Trenowden President, City Women Network

BRENDA TRENOWDEN

President, City Women Network

■ When I graduated with my business degree in 1989 I had no compulsion to go into finance or banking. Although I had done the requisite economics, finance and accounting classes, I was far more interested in international business and general management. I didn’t really understand what was involved in financial markets and I assumed that a finance-related career was limited to number crunching and analysis. It also seemed to appeal much more to the guys in my class than the girls. As it turns out, my first job was an internship at IBM in Hong Kong as a marketing analyst.

HAVE AN OPEN MINDBrenda Trenowden offers her advice to young women entering the financial industry todayPHOTOS: PRIVATE

SHOWCASE

NEWS

The beauty of being in business is that every day offers a new challenge. Every day you get the chance to meet people who are looking for solutions — and when you have the opportunity to not only find the answer they are looking for, but also add value and develop relationships that go beyond that one job, then there is nothing more satisfying.

I started my own business 12 years ago. I never intended to start a busi-ness. I saw an opportunity, a gap in the market, and Forensic Pathways was born. Since then we have gone on to develop unique software for the criminal and business intel-ligence focusing on due diligence and fraud investigation through our ClarityIntel brand.

Lesson number one is about tak-ing the opportunity and under-standing that you don’t need to know everything. If you are your authentic self, people see your pas-sion and see that you have done your research and that you are committed and realistic. They will follow and they will believe.

It’s about taking action. Many times things have not gone the way I have expected and I have felt chal-lenged, but this is often more about the way I perceive myself rather than how others perceive me. Be-ing a woman is a real advantage. In my industry I’m usually one on my own. How great it is to walk into a room and people remember you be-cause immediately you stand out. That’s an advantage!

Whenever things have been challenging I have conditioned myself to face them and know that there is a solution. The rewards for taking action, for believing in your ability, for accepting that you’re not perfect but that you are always striving to be the best and to grow and learn, far outweigh any risk. The greatest risk of all is not taking action, not being the person you have the potential to be.

Deborah Leary OBEPresident, British Association of Women Entrepreneurs

MAY 2013 · 7A SUPPLEMENT BY MEDIAPLANET DISTRIBUTED WITHIN THE INDEPENDENT

COMMERCIAL FEATURE

Nationwide, the world’s largest building society, is a strong ad-vocate for equality and diversity, and was most recently listed in The Times’ Top 50 Employers for Women 2013. This is of particular importance for Nationwide, as 67 per cent of employees are women.

Alison Robb, Group Director at Nationwide, who chairs the Soci-ety’s Women’s Network, is instru-mental in the society’s efforts of identifying and progressing tal-ented women. She said: “Com-panies need to think beyond a

box-ticking approach and really start looking at the net benefitsof a diverse and balanced work-force. At Nationwide, we have long recognised the positives of hiring the right people for the right job,

regardless of race, religion, sex or sexuality. As a mutual organisa-tion, with a relationship with 1 in 4 UK households, we are commit-ted to serving our members, as we don’t have shareholders. Diversity

in our workforce is one of the best ways to achieve that.

“Many women choose to work for Nationwide because they can balance a rewarding and progres-sive career alongside responsibili-ties at home — evidenced through eight out of ten employees return-ing to work after maternity leave.”

Alongside the Times Top 50, Na-tionwide was last year awarded Gold status and a top ten place in both the Opportunity Now and Race for Opportunity bench-marks — the gender and race campaigns run by Business in the Community. It was one of on-ly two financial organisations to appear in both of the top ten lists.

There is continued focus on progressing female talent as Na-tionwide pursues its ambition to

further increase the percentage of women at senior levels, an as-piration fully backed at board and union level.

In terms of career progression, high-potential female employ-ees are selected, supported and tracked. Results show that since the introduction of Nationwide’s Senior Executive Development Programme in 2010, more than 35 per cent of participants have been women. Additionally, 40 per cent of its Next Generation Leader Pro-gramme and over half of the or-ganisation’s Future Leader Pro-gramme were female.

Robb added: “We are never com-placent and there is work under-way to develop opportunities to ensure women can achieve their full potential at Nationwide.”

The business benefi ts of a diverse and equal workforce

■ Employing more women

shouldn’t be about box-ticking

but recognising that they are the

best people for the job, maintains

Nationwide Building Society’s

most senior female, Alison Robb.

Alison Robb Group Director, Nationwide

“Companies need to think beyond a box-ticking approach and really start looking at the net benefi ts of a diverse and balanced workforce”

■ Nationwide Building Society

runs an award-winning graduate

programme and is encouraging

aspiring women leaving university

this summer to apply.

University leavers face a host of options when it comes to starting work, with one of the most pop-ular options being graduate pro-grammes, which can provide the perfect combination of develop-ment and hands-on experience.

Nationwide offers two types of programme — a General Lead-ership programme providing four different placements across two years, and a specialist pro-gramme focussing on specific ar-eas of the business. However, Na-tionwide doesn’t insist on grad-uates with finance degrees; it is open to many disciplines, partic-ularly for the General Leadership programme.

Participants of the graduate

programme rated it 4.34/5, the highest score in the Banking & Fi-nance sector for ‘The Job Crowd’ Top Companies survey 2012/2013.

Graduate Ellie Kruszelnicka, 27, is in her second placement on the General Leadership programme after graduating in Internation-al Business from the University of the West of England.

Kruszelnicka believes Nation-wide, the world’s largest building society, presents a fantastic en-vironment for women looking to step foot on the career ladder. She said: “I chose Nationwide because of its unique, diverse culture, and also for its strong mutual values and commitment to developing staff.”

Currently working in the Chan-nel Development team, Kruszel-nicka works on the analysis and stakeholder management of new products and services. This fol-lows an initial placement within

Nationwide’s Treasury team as a Liquidity Risk Analyst.

She added: “I was looking for a company that believed in cor-porate responsibility and cared about its employees at the same time as being a great financial op-erator. I would definitely recom-mend working for Nationwide as a female graduate. The work en-vironment is great and the com-pany is committed to growing its talent. We are immersed into real roles, given challenging respon-sibilities and projects matched with clear managerial direction, and as such feel a valued part of the team.”

Applications for Nationwide’s 2014 Graduate programmes open in September 2013 and close in December. Graduates are expect-ed to have achieved a 2:1 at Un-dergraduate degree level with 260 UCAS points or above. Gradu-ate programme participants earn

between £25,500— £28,000 whilst on the programme and are mostly based in Swindon with some further roles being based in Northampton.

■ For more information please visit http://www.nationwide-jobs.co.uk/business-areas/graduate-entry-talent.aspx.

FROM THE CLASSROOM TO BOARDROOM:Top female students sought for Nationwide’s leading graduate programme

“We are immersed into real roles, given challenging responsibilities and projects matched with clear managerial direction”

Ellie KruszelnickaGraduate on Nationwide’s General Leadership programme


When Lisa Doole was growing up her ambition was to be a dancer. Her career has taken a very diff er-ent turn, however: she is now a sec-ond year associate working in the audit department at accountancy giant PwC. “My ballet was not good enough, so after taking some time out to travel, I decided at the age of 19 that I wanted something that would enable me to stand on my own two feet,” says Doole, now 24, from Reading. “I decided to study economics and accountancy, a joint degree at City University and Cass Business School.”

To a certain extent, her back-ground had prepared her for it: Doole’s father is a maths teacher, and so clearly had passed on an ap-titude for numbers, while her moth-er was a hairdresser. As a child, Doole had helped her with receipts and billing, a valuable experience for later life. She had also always en-joyed economics at school and so the choice was a natural one to make.

It was at a business fair at university that Doole discov-

ered the Talent Academy at PwC, a programme designed to assist university studentsstarting out in a career in ac-countancy. She decided that this was going to be the career for her. “After my first year I did a one-week summer internship to get an insight into what it was like,” Doole, who is now based in Lon-don, says. “I then did an 11-week work placement between my sec-ond and third year of university. I was treated as a first-year asso-ciate. After I finished my degree I rejoined in September 2012 on the graduate scheme, and I am now training for the ACA (char-tered accountancy qualification). I have so far sat 12 of the 15 exams. The next three will be in June, Ju-ly and November this year, after which I will be fully qualified.”

Exciting opportunitiesA company like PwC, of course, pro-vides huge opportunities globally. “I’m having talks with my people manager about the future,” Doole

says. She is currently working in banking and capital markets in the audit practice, which she says is a great place to start to learn about business. In the longer term, she hopes to work for other departments including advisory and business re-covery and in the very long term pos-sibly practice fi nance in the retail sector. “I’d like to work with a tangi-ble product,” she says.

Do your homeworkWhat advice would she give to other women wishing to work in fi nance? “If you know it’s what you want to do, try to start early,” she says. “Ap-ply for internships and day schemes and meet as many people as you can. Be aware that it’s a big investment: it takes three years. Accountancy is such a wide sphere that there are many diff erent sectors to work in, so do your homework. Oh — and it’s a great career if you want to travel.”

Developing a facility for fi gures

VIGINIA BLACKBURN

[email protected]

Question: What is the best way for a woman to go about creating a career in fi nance? Answer: Start as early as you can. Think about the relevant subject at school, talk to people in the industry and aim for a professional qualifi cation.

INSIGHT

The right business culture will do far more to improve the female talent pipeline than quotas ever will. Tackling male-dominated culture is not only the best way of making sure organisations secure more women in senior positions; it is also key to keeping women in corporate life at all levels.

Ensuring a balance between pro-fessional and personal life is also central — 60 per cent of all senior executives (male and female) be-lieve their productivity would in-crease 10-25 per cent if their organi-sations played a more active role in helping them balance their work and non-work lives. Doing so would not only benefi t senior women (and men) but would also impact on the bottom line.

The advantages of developing the right culture are too big to be ig-nored. Cultural change should be a top priority for employers seeking to secure more women in senior po-sitions as well as ensuring a more balanced and productive workforce.

ALEXA BAILEY, Harvey Nash

A WORLD LEADER OF THE ACCOUNTANCY AND FINANCE PROFESSION

THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT. NO ONE’S BETTER QUALIFIED.

I AM THE FUTURE CEO OF…

ICAEW Chartered Accountants have the work experience, financial intelligence and skills the business world demands. Becoming ‘chartered’ is your ticket to a successful and rewarding career.

Find out more. Visit icaew.com/careers

Lisa DooleAssociate, PwC

“Accountancy is such a wide sphere that there are many different sectors to work in, so do your homework


AIG SHOWCASE TOP WOMEN LEADING THE WAY IN FINANCE

Netsai Mangwende, Manager, Financial Planning & Analysis

■ What or who inspired / attracted you to a

career in insurance?

From the beginning I wanted a career in fi -nancial services. I was drawn to insurance be-cause I was intrigued by the complex dynam-ics associated with assessing risk and price setting. I saw this as a great opportunity and a personal challenge.

■ Have you experienced any barriers /

negativity towards you as a woman working

in insurance?

Some of my female colleagues feel they have to work harder than their male counterparts to access the same opportunities. However I’ve not experienced this and have managed to fi nd the right balance throughout my career.

■ What has AIG done, if anything to support

your progression?

My managers have taken an active interest in my development and have championed my career within AIG. For example I’m now part of a programme to develop future lead-ers. This programme will support my ca-reer, my personal development and give me exposure to exciting opportunities within the company.

COMMERCIAL FEATURE

Lisa Williams, UK Casualty Director

■ What attracted you to a career in

insurance?

I had wanted to join the police but at the time I was too short so my parents suggest-ed banking or insurance. At my interview I

was so enthused by my interviewer about the scope of insurance that I decided it was for me.

■ How can young people be encouraged into

insurance?

We need to raise awareness about what we do. For example, we enable industry, tech-nology and science to innovate and develop new products by covering some of the risks that might prevent or at least slow down innovation. We need to do more to get that message across.

■ What would you say to your daughter

perhaps, who may be contemplating a career

in Insurance?

Absolutely, I would encourage her. It’s a fantastic industry to work in particularly if you like learning new things in an ever changing environment.

Kate Roy, UK Operations Director

■ Are school age girls put off by a career

in insurance?

In my experience they are not. There is a higher proportion of women to men at en-try level positions within the industry. The challenge is ensuring we retain more of our female talent as their careers progress.

■ Is the image of the pinstripe suited

insurance man appropriate in 2013?

It is neither accurate nor appropriate, however those perceptions still exist. So the continued investment in diversity in our senior teams will ultimately remove those perceptions.

■ What has AIG done, if anything to

support your progression?

At AIG we have a particular focus on Workplace Diversity led by our MD Nico-las Aubert with a emphasis on improving gender balance in our leadership teams. I am delighted to say that I have just been promoted to the UK Executive Board.

I’ve had the opportunity to make a personal contribution to develop our fe-male talent through women’s network-ing groups, dedicated mentoring pro-grammes and encouraging open dialogue about work / life balance challenges.

Ingrid Woodward, European head of specialty claims

■ What or who inspired / attracted you

to a career in insurance?

I grew up in a family of girls. All pursued careers in the fi nance industry. My fa-ther taught me I could do whatever I wanted to do as a career regardless of my gender.

■ How can graduates and school

leavers be encouraged to consider a

career in insurance?

By working with schools and off ering work experience during summer breaks. This also adds to their life experience. In-surance is such a diverse industry but the old stereotype of it being a man’s world still exists. I have been privileged to work with some great women and I think we need to expose more pupils / graduates to women like these for inspiration.

■ Have you experienced any

barriers/negativity towards you as a

woman whilst working in insurance –

example?

On the contrary! I was promoted when I returned from maternity leave. If you start looking for barriers you impose your own limitations. If you are deter-mined and have goals you will succeed.

“In a global marketplace we know that diversity — of people, ideas, and skills — is essential for us to continue building our competitive advantage,” states Nicolas Aubert, UK Managing Director of AIG.

“Diversity and inclusion is not only the right thing to do, but also forms the heart of our viability as a great company that attracts and retains the best people. For AIG, diversity is the power of our diff erences and inclusion means using that power to achieve a competitive advantage. We are developing a mindset of inclusion in which diff erences are considered assets rather than obstacles” explains Aubert.


PANEL OF EXPERTS

I learned early from my family that, al-though men might earn money, it was a woman’s job to look after it. My great aunt was particularly infl uential — probably because she ran a sweet shop! So it isn’t surprising that I’ve gravitated to working with fi nance in all my career roles.

It was an accident. I was planning on becoming a history professor and my sister told me finance was the better op-tion, so I decided to go for that instead. I’ve certainly never regretted it. It was the right choice to make and I have had a very interesting career.

It was varied and exciting. The industry plays a critical role in the economy. I had different roles in treasury and equity markets, as well as international opportunities. I en-joyed the challenge, the in-depth analy-sis, the buzz of beating the market and making money for our investors. It also paid well.

My initial 20 years in financial infor-mation technology were a rather circu-itous route to my most recent role. But I’ve never found it a problem being a woman in finance — many of the most influential leaders in sustainable fi-nance around the world are female.

When you begin in finance and ac-counting it’s simple as there are rules you have to follow. But as you move up the career ladder it becomes more com-plex. You develop from a ‘doer’ to a man-ager and then a leader and in transition no one tells you what to do. You find one day you’re in a senior role and you real-ise no one told you how to do this.

Not mastering the internal politics, since I didn’t participate

in the social activities of my male colleagues. As the first female funds manager I set up a lunch with women when they joined the team. I was hauled into HR and told to desist as the men might find it divisive!

Strong skills in a numerate profes-sional role will stand you in good stead whatever you choose to do as your career develops. You can take them into any in-dustry or anywhere around the world — and they are still the fastest route into the boardroom.

You have to learn how to move on and adapt. You also have to be open to new experiences and try new things. Your career doesn’t have to be linear. It is important to learn to move on when you’ve made a decision about what to do next and not feel guilty.

Ask questions, be bold, and learn how others have succeeded. Invest time to create a strategy for your pro-gression. Seek out endorsers and share your ambitions with your bosses. Get their advice and commitment to assist you. Raise your visibility by getting in-volved in working groups, internal and external networks.

Question 1:Why did you choose fi nance as a professional career?

Penny Shepherd MBE Adviser and former

chief executive,

UK Sustainable

Investment

and Finance

Association

Ask the experts!

Karen KeenanExecutive vice

president, State

Street Global

Markets, EMEA

Sylvana Caloni President, Women

in Banking and

Finance

Question 2:What, if any, diffi culties did you face along the way to your current position?

Question 3:What advice would you give other women starting out within the industry?

Having studied engineering at univer-sity I wanted to broaden my experience in a strong technical field. When I left university Chubb offered me an oppor-tunity within the business world that fitted my background of versatile prob-lem-solving skills and my aspirations.

I can honestly say that rather than dif-ficulties I’ve always had support from colleagues and managers, which has helped me a lot. They have taught me valuable lessons and given me insights and guidance throughout my career. Consequently I believe it is important and beneficial to help others pursuing similar paths.

Set goals and make them known — how can colleagues help if they don’t know what you want to achieve? Person-al development is essential — qualifica-tions; broadening your experience, net-working, ongoing training and devel-opment. Choose mentors/sponsors who can help you develop and achieve your goals. Be confident in your own abilities and aspirations.

Jacqueline McNamee Executive director,

AIG


COMMERCIAL FEATURE

Understanding the Female Econo-my, a report by Barclays Wealth & Investment Management, shows that when it comes to entrepre-neurs, the gender pay gap is not just diminished but reversed al-together. Amongst high net worth female entrepreneurs, the average annual income stands at £382,000 — whilst male entrepreneurs earn 14 per cent less, with an an-nual income of £327,000. In con-trast, the average income of a high net worth woman who does not own her own business is £217,000 — 21 per cent lower than the

corresponding average male in-come of £273,000.

Claire Packham Certified Book-keeper, who runs Team 4 Solu-tions, an accountancy & bookkeep-ing business in Sussex, suggests that running your own busi-ness can provide the opportunity

to use a fuller range of skills. “I always say that people buy

from people, not businesses. As well as having great technical skills as a bookkeeper, I need to be an excellent communicator and be prepared for total flexibility in my approach. As professional service

providers, myself and my staff work very closely with our clients.”

Whilst Claire did not set up her own business with the direct in-tention of earning more than men, she does credit her entrepre-neurialism for helping her take more control over her lifestyle. “I became a self-employed book-keeper when my son was young. I needed a job that I could do from home with flexible hours to fit in around my family. As my son got older, I had more time to expand the business. I now have over 200 clients and often find myself working evenings, weekends and right through the night; I think that’s a product of running a busi-ness you’re passionate about.

“Although I’ve been in this busi-ness for over 25 years I can still

learn something new almost eve-ry day, it’s what keeps me jumping out of bed every morning!”

Women entrepreneurs are reversing the gender pay-gap

■ The highest-paid female

entrepreneurs are earning up to

£55,000 a year more than men

at the same level according to a

recent report.

■ To find out how you can

start a business as a Certified

Bookkeeper visit www.bookkeepers.org.uk/startup

The leading Professional Women’s website

For the latest job vacancies, networking groups, events, personal & career development & inspiration.

With over 3 million hits a month, why not visit us today and take your career or business to the next level

www.WeAreTheCity.com www.CareersCity.co.uk

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