Among the many commentaries around International Women's Day, which took place on 9 March, Eloise Rouse, Investment Manager, Oakglen Wealth commented: “I’ve been fortunate to have male mentors who have championed me throughout my career. However, despite this allegiance, one must recognise the reality of being an outlier as a young female investment manager.
“To some extent, I believe women in the industry must take it upon themselves to push themselves forward, highlighting the merits of their inclusion, raising questions as to why an unequal gender split remains and having the self-assurance to see the benefit in their diversity, in order to break the mould.
"However, the onus does not lie solely with women to drive the change. Male colleagues share this duty as allies of their female counterparts, to recognize that the gender balance remains off-kilter and to work together to reshape the industry.
“From experience, I know that I can bring a different perspective to the table from that of my male associates, presenting the opportunity to those around me to consider issues through a different lens.
"If I surrender to the fear of participating due to being in the gender minority, I fail to do justice to the privilege that allows me to encourage other women to have confidence in their worth and in the advantages of diversification. One must lead by example in order to inspire others to follow suit and as this mindset trickles down to the next cohort, the narrative of wealth management as a male-centric industry should start to be rewritten.”
The financial advice gender gap continues to grow with more female advisers needed if we are to begin to close it, according to national advice firm Continuum on sister brand II here.
While Veredas Zarco, a wealth management adviser at MAPFRE Inversión, highlighted in II not only the trend within the industry of an increasing number of women stepping into leadership roles in the finance sector, but also that women are dedicating more time and energy to wealth planning than ever before.
