Morningstar DBRS recently published a commentary highlighting the under-representation of women in management positions within the UK insurance sector, despite companies implementing several initiatives to counteract this trend.
According to data from The Women in Finance Charter (WIFC) and Morningstar DBRS, there has been a positive trend in female representation in senior positions across the financial services industry over the past four years.
This trend is particularly noticeable in the government/regulator sector, which has seen significant increases each year since 2019. Additionally, most other sectors have improved female representation in senior positions by four to eight percentage points during this period.
However, Morningstar DBRS notes that “female participation in management positions in the UK insurance sector seems to have stagnated at around 35% since 2019.” The data indicates that the insurance sector has shown the least improvement compared to other sectors.
Moreover, a recent study by global employment lawyers reveals that only 7% of CEOs in the UK insurance sector are women.
Despite several initiatives introduced by the government and financial services companies to address this issue, such as the WIFC in 2016, the Gender Pay Gap Reporting Regulation, and the Women in Insurance Awards in 2017, Morningstar DBRS notes, “women’s access to leadership positions remains a challenge for the industry.”
The commentary explores factors that may deter women from pursuing careers in the insurance industry.
It indicates that “the average remuneration for women in insurance is still below that of men”, contributing to the lack of appeal for women to pursue a career within the insurance industry. Morningstar DBRS suggests that achieving a more balanced representation of women in management positions could potentially help address this disparity.
Moreover, recent scandals involving major companies such as Aviva during their 2022 Annual General Meeting and Lloyd’s in 2019 following the Bloomberg Business Week investigation have portrayed the industry as outdated and unwelcoming to women, potentially deterring them from pursuing long-term careers in this field.
Furthermore, due to the industry’s failure to create a substantial number of female role models, “women in junior positions may feel less motivated to pursue a career in insurance.”
Morningstar DBRS concludes that while the UK insurance sector has made progress in closing the senior gender gap, there is still room for improvement. Specifically, the sector needs to focus on enhancing job satisfaction by creating a supportive work environment that enables women at intermediate and senior levels of their careers to balance work and life responsibilities.
