Too few women in financial services get to the top

We’re delighted to announce that Amanda Blanc has been appointed Women in Finance Charter Champion.

Too few women in financial services get to the top and often don’t progress beyond mid-level management.  

Amanda will be focusing on flexible ways of working and the issues that surround getting more women into the talent pipelines. By focusing on the pipeline rather than targets, permanent change will be made.

Taking on the role of Women in Finance Charter Champion is a huge honour but also a huge responsibility. Ensuring women have as many opportunities as men in financial services is critical. It’s critical for women. It’s critical to the future of UK financial services. And a successful, inclusive, financial services industry is critical to a revitalised UK economy.

There are still far too many barriers blocking women’s progress in financial services. We’ve got to work quicker and harder. Now is the time for less talk, more action.

What does this mean for Aviva?

We still have work to do at Aviva. We need to make sure 60% of our senior appointments, this year and next, are women to meet our Women in Finance Charter obligations. Our ambition is to have 40% senior female leaders by 2024 - our current figure is 32%. 

For more details on what we’re doing you can read our Gender Pay Gap Report 2020

And you can read about how we're supporting women’s progression into senior roles and our commitment to the Charter on our Women in Finance Charter page.  

What is the Women in Finance Charter?

The UK government’s Women in Finance Charter was launched by HM Treasury in response to the unequal gender representation in the financial services industry, especially in senior and mid-level management. 

It’s a voluntary charter that companies can sign to publicly commit to improving that imbalance.

-ENDS-

Enquiries:

Andrew Reid
+44 (0)7800 694 276

Notes to editors:

  • We are the UK's leading diversified insurer and we operate in the UK, Ireland and Canada. We also have international investments in India and China.
  • We help our 19.2 million (as at 31 December 2023) customers make the most out of life, plan for the future, and have the confidence that if things go wrong we’ll be there to put it right.
  • We have been taking care of people for more than 325 years, in line with our purpose of being ‘with you today, for a better tomorrow’. In 2023, we paid £25.6 billion in claims and benefits to our customers. 
  • In 2021, we announced our ambition to become Net Zero by 2040, the first major insurance company in the world to do so. We are aiming to have Net Zero carbon emissions from Aviva’s operations and supply chain by 2030. While we are working towards our sustainability ambitions, we recognise that while we have control over Aviva’s operations and influence on our supply chain, when it comes to decarbonising the economy in which we operate and invest, Aviva is one part of a far larger global ecosystem. There are also limits to our ability to influence other organisations and governments. Nevertheless, we remain focused on the task and are committed to playing our part in the collective effort to enable the global transition. Find out more about our climate goals at www.aviva.com/climate-goals and our sustainability ambition and action at www.aviva.com/sustainability
  • Aviva is a Living Wage, Living Pension and Living Hours employer and provides market-leading benefits for our people, including flexible working, paid carers leave and equal parental leave. Find out more at https://www.aviva.com/about-us/our-people/
  • As at 31 December 2023, total Group assets under management at Aviva Group were £376 billion and our estimated Solvency II shareholder capital surplus was £8.8 billion. Our shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and we are a member of the FTSE 100 index.
  • For more details on what we do, our business and how we help our customers, visit www.aviva.com/about-us
  • The Aviva newsroom at www.aviva.com/newsroom includes links to our spokespeople images, podcasts, research reports and our news release archive. Sign up to get the latest news from Aviva by email.
  • You can follow us on:
  • For the latest corporate films from around our business, subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/aviva

      More from our Newsroom