The female financial adviser gap is starting to narrow, but the industry should “redouble” its efforts to attract more women.
According to research from The Openwork Partnership, the last two intakes for The Openwork Academy had around 32 per cent female candidates.
The academy was founded in 2014 and provides learning and qualification support for financial advice. It has produced around 370 advisers.
The Openwork Partnership itself has more than 4,300 financial advisers across the UK from nearly 700 firms.
Research by the distribution network, which surveyed 100 advisers across the UK, also found that 69 per cent of financial advice firms wanted to grow their business over the next 12 months, which provided opportunities to hire women.
The Openwork Partnership’s network director Claire Limon (pictured) said: “Female financial advice is thriving in the UK with real evidence that the female financial advice gap is starting to narrow but, in a male-dominated advice industry we must redouble our efforts to attract more women into the industry.”
She said that The Openwork Partnership wanted to take an “industry-leading” position on recruitment strategies to encourage women to enter the financial services sector.
She also praised policy progress with initiatives like Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter but said that “change needs to accelerate”.
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.
