A HM Treasury report said that since the Women in Finance Charter was launched in 2016 to improve female representation, “numbers were moving the right direction, albeit slowly, and seems to be consistent”.
The report noted that if the cohort – which covers 205 companies across several industries – continued this increase per year, parity on average would be reached by 2045.
If this was increased to two percentage points per year, then parity on average could be hit by 2034.
It added that the signatory cohort has been improving female representation by one percentage point per year on average.
The report said the increase is “very exposed” and there is a “fine balance between the signatories that are increasing female representation and those that are not”.
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The Treasury explained that in 2024, a third of signatories decreased their proportion of women in senior management, the largest number of firms to fall since the Women in Finance Charter was launched.
However, this was offset by the fact that almost half of signatories advanced by more than one percentage point.
“Every year, the majority of signatures are making progress, and the majority are increased by more than one percentage point – but the drag of the signatories that are unable to maintain the proportion of women in their organisations has thwarted acceleration,” it said.
The Treasury report warned that while there is progress, “it is slow and at risk of slowing further”, as the one percentage point increase per year was “vulnerable”.
It added that sectors were moving at different speeds and there were “marked differences” in representations between sectors.
It said the best performers were UK banks and insurers and the furthest behind were global/investment banks and investment managers.
The Treasury called on signatories to focus on acceleration so that average female representation is more than 1% per year, adding that those increasing in small increments need to improve and those falling need to course-correct.
It said trailing signatories needed to “step up”, adding that leading firms would likely slow down as they get closer to 50%, so other firms will need to “pick up the baton”.
It said “signatories should also ensure that they are taking a data-led approach, being strategic, increasing accountability and innovating”.
It called on signatories to use the evidence, noting that the charter data becomes “richer and more compelling” every year.
