Financial services sector in the UK needs improvement in EDI

• Aparna Sreevalsan
• 12 October, 2023

MORE work needs to be done on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) says the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority has also indicated it wants to do more on ethnic minority inclusion as it launched its theme for the Black History Month “Saluting our Sisters”.

The ABI has set out its new goal to make the insurance business as the “most diverse and inclusive sector of the UK economy”.

Speaking at the ABI’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit in London, director general of ABI, Hannah Gurga said: “We want 2024 to be a year of action. We want to accelerate activity [to improve EDI] and to broaden perspectives.

“EDI is not a nice-to-have; it’s critical to business performance in the long-term.”

Gurga asked participants to “do more to ensure that no-one is left behind,” even though some businesses were more advanced than others.

She made these remarks along with the ABI’s EDI Blueprint results.

Executive sponsor for diversity and inclusion at the ABI Yvonne Braun highlighted some notable advancements in three key areas: attracting talent, growing talent, and advancing EDI through an evidence-based approach.

Key findings included:

• Almost half (47 per cent) of insurance and long-term savings firms now collect data on neurodiversity within their organisation, up from 27 per cent in 2020.
• Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of ABI members have a specific policy in place to support neurodiverse employees, up from 14 per cent in 2021.
• The Women in Finance Charter has helped increase the number of women on boards from 19 per cent in 2017 to 32 per cent in 2022.
• Representation of women within executive teams has also increased from 25 per cent in 2021 to 29 per cent in 2022.
• Black and ethnic minority representation at board level within firms has risen from two per cent in 2021 to six per cent in 2022.

Braun said: “We need a more diverse leadership; it means we will understand customers’ needs better and this will help insurance as a whole.”

Also, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced their theme for the Black History Month “Saluting our Sisters”, as it admits there is more work to do to improve minority ethnic inclusion.

Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, explained the FCA will celebrate its black heritage by focusing on the achievements of Black Sisters and what they have done in different walks of life and careers in the UK to break down barriers.

The conversation will concentrate on driving change, connecting voices, and unlocking potential.

Chambers used the FCA’s Financial Lives Survey, which found that customers in minority groups face uneven outcomes, to highlight how this lack of fairness extends outside the workplace.

According to the report, people from certain minority ethnic origins are far less likely to hold savings accounts, protection plans, or private pensions.