44 financial institutions missed their 2020 Women in Finance Charter targets, including Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, Monzo Bank, the Bank of England, and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

An annual review of the charter’s progress found that of the 44 companies, 21 did increase representation of women in 2020, while six remained the same, and 17 firms saw levels drop.

Lloyds aimed for 40 per cent by the end of 2020, but only reached 37 per cent. The bank said that this was because the pandemic led to a recruitment freeze that limited external hiring and promotions.

Although the FCA hit its ethnicity target, it missed its interim target of 45 per cent for representation of women by 5 per cent. The authority has a target of 50 per cent female representation by 2025.

“At the FCA, we set ambitious targets: women accounting for 45 per cent of our senior leadership team by 2020, and half by 2025,” said FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi, at a speech during the launch of the review. “That we missed our 2020 target by 5 percentage points shows we too have work to do.”

Monzo has doubled female representation among senior managers and achieved its target for executive committees, but fell short of its 40 per cent board target.

The Bank of England saw progress towards its 35 per cent target slow last year which it said was because of a six-month recruitment pause and lower turnover because of the pandemic. It has now extended its deadline to 2021.

Nationwide has a target for six layers of management. While it exceeded its 33 per cent target for boards, executive committees, and level five managers, it missed targets for all three of the lower levels.

The building society is now setting new targets of 50 per cent of female representation actors four layers.

Other financial organisations that did not meet last year’s targets include: the London Stock Exchange Group, Post Office, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, AIB UK, Aldermore Group, Allianz Global Investors, Aon, AXA Investment Managers, AXA UK, Bibby Financial Services, BlackRock, BNY Mellon, BP Supply and Trading, Canada Life, CNA Hardy, Deloitte, esure Group, the Financial Reporting Council, Funding Circle, Invesco, IRESS, Legal & General Group, LV= General Insurance, Nucleus Financial Group, Nutmeg Saving and Investment, Paysafe, Post Office, Provident Financial, PwC UK, QBE European Operations, Quilter Refinitiv, Royal London Group, Skipton Building Society, Standard Chartered Bank, Tesco Bank, UK Export Finance, and Zurich Insurance UK.

Coronavirus can’t be blamed for slow progress

Although the pandemic was one of most common reasons given for missing targets, the review found that Covid-19 had not been the main reason for the slow progress last year.

The 37 companies that did hit their 2020 deadlines had increased female representation steadily over the past years from a higher starting point, while the 44 that failed to meet targets had started from a lower level and flatlined in the last year.

It said that based on the annualised rate each company required to hit their target, assuming a constant rate of annual progress, only six of the 44 were above their required rate in 2019, which means most of them had “already fallen behind before the pandemic struck.”

Other reasons included going through restructuring, a merger or an acquisition, reduced headcount growth, a drop off in recruitment activity, low turnover in senior management, and high turnover of senior women.

Nine companies have now set new targets, seven have kept their targets but extended their deadlines, while six have redefined senior management.

“We celebrate the firms that have me their targets this year, as well as those that continue to work towards gender equality,” said Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia, who is stepping down as government women in finance champion. “Diverse and inclusive businesses are often those with the best workplace culture, the best employee retention rates, and the most sustainable returns.”

She added: “We also recognise the success that comes with senior accountability for gender diversity. When this matters at the very top of the organisation, and when measurable targets are set, results will be achieved.”

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