However, this is easier said than done, given how detached from everyday life the financial jargon can be. As such, you need to be able to understand the language of finance before you can make sense of the industry's inner workings.

To help you out, we compiled a list of five financial terms that should help you understand this industry better. Read on and learn the terms necessary to efficiently navigate the finance world!

1 - Blockchain

Have you tried to read articles such as What Is an Enterprise Blockchain? or 'What is a Smart Contract?' and found yourself completely lost? Well, you're not the only one - blockchain is a relatively new concept, so, understandably, people are still trying to wrap their heads around it.

Despite being a relatively new invention, blockchain has become one of the most important buzzwords in the finance industry. The technology itself is complex, and it has a lot of potential applications, but when it comes to financing, it's usually used in the context of cryptocurrencies and transactions.

In a nutshell, blockchain is a decentralized and digitally distributed ledger that essentially records all transactions and can be used to store any kind of information. The most important part is that these records are immutable and tamper-proof.

The transactions are then verified and validated by nodes that are spread around the world, which means that the whole blockchain is incredibly secure.

Blockchain's most famous application is Bitcoin - a cryptocurrency that is changing the world of finance and helping many people earn a fortune. The technology gives power to individuals and makes sure that there are no middlemen involved in transactions.

2 - GAAP

GAAP stands for Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and it's a term that's used to refer to a set of standards and guidelines used by businesses and accountants to maintain and report their financial statements.

There are various organizations responsible for developing these principles, including the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The goal is to ensure that financial statements are prepared in a way that's consistent and transparent so that they can be easily interpreted and compared.

GAAP is an important concept because it helps reduce the risk of fraud and abuse, and it also makes sure that investors and other stakeholders can trust the information that's being presented to them.

3 - Fintech

Fintech is a term that's used to refer to any kind of financial technology - this includes anything from online banking to mobile payments and even cryptocurrencies.

In essence, fintech is responsible for changing the way that people interact with the financial world, and it's had a huge impact on the industry as a whole. Thanks to fintech, it's now easier than ever for people to use financial services and products, and this has made a lot of previously exclusive services available to a wider population.

4 - Asset Allocation

Asset allocation is a term that's used to refer to the process of distributing your financial means across different investments to achieve your desired level of risk and return.

The main goal is to create a well-diversified portfolio, and that can withstand market volatility, and there are a few different ways to go about it. For example, you can choose to invest in stocks, bonds, and cash, or you can opt for a more aggressive approach and put your money into commodities or real estate.

The key is to find the right balance for you, and this will depend on your individual goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon.

5 - Cash Flow

Cash flow is a term that's used to refer to the movement of money in and out of business. It's important to keep track of your cash flow because it can give you insights into your business's financial health - for example, if you're consistently spending more money than you're bringing in, this is a sign that you might be in trouble.

There are three main types of cash flow: operating cash flow, investing cash flow, and financing cash flow.

Operating cash flow is the money that's coming in and out of your business from everyday operations, such as sales and expenses. Investing cash flow is the net money that's being used for investments, such as trading assets.

Finally, financing cash flow refers to means used to finance the business, such as taking out loans or selling equity.

Conclusion

The finance industry is constantly evolving, so it's important to stay on top of the latest developments. However, this can be difficult if you're not familiar with the industry's jargon.

By understanding the meaning of terms such as blockchain, GAAP, and cash flow, you'll be able to navigate the finance world easier and make better-informed decisions.

Of course, these are only a few of the finance terms you need to know to stay on top of the industry. Fortunately, there are plenty of online resources, such as Investopedia, that can help you learn more about the finance world and how it works.

A financial planner works with varying financial backgrounds, including government officials and regular people. Since financial planning requires a superb level of expertise, an Online Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning is necessary. A financial planner with a degree is highly regarded as they can help with finances, provide insight and educate clients effectively. This guide will look at the benefits of opting for a financial planning career.

What Is A Financial Planner?

Financial planners are trained individuals that work with people and businesses to create a financial plan. They also help their clients achieve the set milestones. A financial planner helps people save and manage money by:

• Offering budgeting tips
• Helping reduce debts and credit card loans
• Real estate planning
• Ideas and tips for investment
• Tax management
• Mortgage assistance
• Insurance management

Advantages Of A Career In Financial Planning

Profitable Career

Financial planning may be a tough job that requires full attention and effort, but it does prove fruitful in the end. The average financial planner's annual salary is nearly $65,765. You can consistently achieve more if you gain new business projects yearly. New and recurring projects combined can help you attain a substantial income. A financial planner’s salary is either based on individual project fees, commission, or a combination of both.

Stable Industry

Opting to be a financial planner secures your future. The industry is steady, and the unemployment rate is low. The variety in this platform ensures a suitable job role for all kinds of individuals. Working as a financial planner can land you in various places, including boutiques, brand offices, and even business firms. You can also work independently and offer services to more than one kind of business. 

Emotionally Rewarding

Apart from profitable income, a career in financial planning has emotional benefits too. The sense of being the person who helps ease other people's problems can be gratifying and can boost self-esteem. This kind of emotional reward is usually absent in other types of careers. Helping people manage their loan debts and aiding financial management is undoubtedly a good deed.

People suffering from depression and anxiety from financial troubles can find peace after working with you. This reduces emotional stress, health risks, and overwhelming medical bills. You can help people avoid drug problems and find a reason to be happy.

Making Dreams Come True

Financial planning can help individuals cope with better financial management, but it is also true that it can help people fulfil their wishes. As a financial planner, you can help couples, families, or individuals relieve financial stress, make smarter investments, and even save money for a home or car. Through your job, you can help people accomplish their biggest dreams that would otherwise have not been possible.

Endnote

If you wish to pursue financial planning as a career, it's best to obtain the proper education to get into the industry quickly. A good degree will portray your qualification and support your expertise in the long run.

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A recent study by 365 Data Science revealed that sought-after data scientists switch employers every 1.7 years on average. And developers are quick to change jobs also. A February 2022 survey conducted by Salesforce's Mulesoft found that 93% of 600 IT leaders from enterprises across the US, UK, France, Germany, and Australia were finding it more difficult to retain skilled developers and 86% were also finding it more difficult to recruit since the start of the pandemic.

That’s a big problem for financial services firms as business processes are becoming more data-intensive. To avoid drowning in data, firms need to digitalise and become more data-driven and they depend on expert technology and data specialists to provide that capability.

Delivering technology and tools

 Every data scientist and developer wants to be paid well for what they do but they also need a challenging work environment and to be able to work on interesting problems using cutting-edge technology. In addition, they want their job to allow them to hone their skills and advance their career. Critically too, every working environment should be supported by appropriate cloud infrastructure allowing for easy and fast data onboarding and data sharing as well as the use of the latest open source technologies, that give data experts the creative freedom and processing power to experiment with different scenarios.

Many financial services organisations are still failing to hit the mark when it comes to making the latest technologies available to these employees. Recent research by Alveo in the UK, US, and Asia that focused on ESG data analysis specifically reveals that just 37% of data scientists in financial services firms currently use AI, machine learning and other advanced technologies in their key analysis and investment processes and workflows. This underlines the fact that, despite the potential of AI and its rapid growth, harnessing its capability for practical benefit can be more challenging.

Why data scientists and developers need to be stretched

Many data experts working for financial services firms are weighed down by basic administrative, and/or routine tasks. Two-thirds (66%) of respondents to the Alveo survey say quants and data analysts in their organisation have to spend between 25% and 50% of their time collecting, preparing and quality-controlling data. 

Even if they are getting paid well for their efforts, most data scientists will not want to work in roles where they spend their time dealing with basic data aggregation and quality control issues rather than inferring new insights and conducting statistical analysis on large data sets.  Getting mired in clerical work will prevent staff from developing the skills and capabilities they need to advance their careers and keep them motivated. Integrated data management and analytics solutions together with data modelling, data quality and data onboarding capabilities will ensure staff hit the ground running.

Training and the wider working environment

From the financial services firm’s perspective, this enhanced technological capability has to be accompanied by relevant training. It is often a key way of engaging these important workers and keeping them loyal.  

That also plays into the need to build a flexible environment for developers and data scientists to work in. This may include offering hybrid work arrangements and giving staff the opportunity to work remotely if needed. Developers, in particular, value working in a calm, quiet location that allows them to focus their attention on their creative work. It is important here to ensure that the home-work environment is secure and that staff have what they need to work as efficiently as possible.

Providing a challenge

It is also key to ensure that these staff are supported in using popular, widely leveraged technologies like Cassandra and Apache Spark: technologies that once learned by data scientists can become portable skills. For data scientists, the equivalent is likely to be the latest productivity tool, that allows them to get to complex analytics tasks as fast as possible, skipping over the more mundane data collection mastering and aggregation jobs

Highly skilled and trained developers and data scientists need to be given the latitude to work in a way that suits them best. That should be a collaborative process, likely involving brainstorming sessions with colleagues but there should always be an element of freeing up the creativity of your analysts and developer experts.

Financial services firms can further accelerate data scientist and developer engagement by ensuring these employees are able to work on challenging projects with interesting, ground-breaking clients: the sort that pushes them to work hard and deliver to their full potential.  

Enabling staff to hone these skills working for demanding high-end clients from central banks to leading hedge funds will help drive their development. As a result, firms can counter The Great Resignation, keep data scientists and developers engaged for longer, build their skills to position them well in their long-term careers and reap further rewards in terms of efficient project execution and enhanced client engagement. 

About the author: Martijn Groot is VP Marketing and Strategy at Alveo.

It’s an approach which has paid off, as Equilibrium has won numerous awards and clinched a spot in the top 10 of The Sunday Times’ Best Small Companies to Work For list three years in a row. They also have a 92% staff retention rate.

Under the stewardship of Managing Partner Gaynor Rigby, Sarah Warburton, Head of Culture, has played a vital role in shaping the culture and engagement strategy that earned their place on the list.

Here, she discusses how other financial services firms can follow suit and ensure that staff are striking the correct balance between work and their personal lives.

I actually made my start in financial recruitment with Equilibrium, initially joining part-time on the talent team to assist with a number of different projects. My time at the company slowly upped and upped, and I was invited to join full time as the Head of Culture in 2015.

So much has changed in that relatively short space of time, but one thing has remained resolutely the same: we put our people first and make their happiness a key priority.

The phrase ‘work/life balance’ is bandied about so freely these days, but a lot of companies – particularly in the financial services industry – are yet to fully understand the importance of it.

We have accepted that the nature of our work means we must be chained to our desks and work incredibly long hours, answering emails and phone calls from clients and CEOs at all hours of the day.

Historically in this industry, we have accepted that the nature of our work means we must be chained to our desks and work incredibly long hours, answering emails and phone calls from clients and CEOs at all hours of the day.

It’s time for the financial sector to move away from deploying it as a glib turn of phrase in recruitment brochures and actually start implementing sustainable work/life balances which are healthy for employees.

But what does this look like in action?

The three keys for us at Equilibrium are freedom, flexibility and time to be at home with your loved ones. We’ll look back in the future and think that being available 24/7 – especially being available on weekends when you don’t work in a business that’s operational on a weekend – is bananas.

It’s very normalised in this industry as the workload is demanding. It’s become par for the course to work on evenings and weekends but, in reality, there’s just no need for it. If time is managed correctly and realistic goals and deadlines are set, there is absolutely no need for employees to be working on weekends.

At Equilibrium, we shut and lock the office doors at 6pm every night, and we have a house rule that we don’t answer emails after this time. This means that our team can properly ‘switch off’ and be present when they’re away from their desks.

There is a temptation in client-facing roles to be on hand to respond to clients at the drop of a hat because, theoretically, this will keep them happy.

However, if you’re burnt out, drained and tired from being ‘on’ all the time, you won’t service your clients to the standard you should, which is what we try and reinforce to our advisers and investment managers.

This is also why it’s so important that our team gets quality time off. We encourage them to spend their time away from work with their loved ones and in a way which will be fulfilling to them, leaving them rested and recharged. That way, when they return to work, they’ll be focused on the task at hand.

Burnout is common in the financial industry, and job roles can often come with a lot of pressure. This can lead to staff taking an undue amount of sick leave to try and ‘reset’, meaning client work suffers.

It’s also why we have such a generous holiday allowance, so that staff can take long holidays and have ample time to pursue their passions outside of work.

Burnout is common in the financial industry, and job roles can often come with a lot of pressure. This can lead to staff taking an undue amount of sick leave to try and ‘reset’, meaning client work suffers.

To try and mitigate that as much as possible, we make our working environment as supportive and engaging as we can, so that a healthy work/life balance is prioritised and staff aren’t left feeling overwhelmed by their job roles.

We encourage people to take their full lunch breaks and encourage ‘walking meetings’ outdoors so that the team can get out and about in the fresh air. We also have a room where people can decompress and are always understanding if people feel that they need to take time to focus on their wellbeing. We emphasise the importance of sharing problems and speaking freely about mental health and wellbeing.

All of these factors have contributed to Equilibrium having an incredibly productive and happy workforce, and that is something which we feel is important to make clear to other employers. Investing in your staff and their happiness will only ever have a positive impact on your bottom line. Our turnover and productivity levels have not suffered as a result of our employee engagement programme and strong work/life balance – conversely, they have both increased.

It’s also crucial to remember that benefits don’t make a culture. People do.

However, what’s important to remember is that company culture isn’t ‘one size fits all’ – what works for us may not be viable for another financial business. Ultimately, it's about knowing what drives your team and understanding what works, which is why culture and work/life balance varies from company to company.

For example, over half of our team is client-facing, so whilst flexibility is important, there's only so much flexibility that we can actually allow because clients expect them to be available to a certain degree.

It’s also crucial to remember that benefits don’t make a culture. People do. The perks are great, but they aren’t the real reason Equilibrium is one of the best companies to work for in the country. If you help people grow, develop, find their passion and make them feel valued, your company’s working culture will naturally be positive and productive, and employees will feel as though they have a comfortable balance between their work life and their personal life.

For more information, please visit www.eqllp.co.uk or follow Equilibrium on twitter: @EquilibriumAM
Search @Equilibrium.amon Instagram to see what the team have been up to recently.

1. Develop your emotional intelligence.

While numeracy and IT literacy are most often cited as key requirements needed to be successful in the finance industry, a high degree of emotional intelligence, or ‘EQ’, is just as, if not more, important. Ultimately, this is a people business, but a people business on steroids, i.e. full of big personalities. To make it in this industry, the ability to interact with people as individuals, as clients and as markets, all with complex behaviours that work on multiple levels, is essential. The ability to read a situation and respond accordingly is paramount, while at the same time, not losing sight of your own values or perspectives.

2. First impressions

While this might sound superficial – and one could argue that you shouldn’t ‘judge a book by its cover’ – perception is reality: you need to look and sound the part. Unfortunately, within the finance sector, as is undoubtedly the case in other sectors, there are plenty of people who think this is enough to guarantee success – a lot of mediocrity hides behind designer labels.

3. Back up your personal brand with

Do your research; don’t be afraid to bring a different perspective; articulate your views clearly and appropriately, and tailor them depending on the audience. Ultimately, act as business card agnostic. While there will be occasions where the corporate brand is paramount, in most instances business is transacted where people can empathise and have respect for the integrity, capability and personality an individual brings. Believe in yourself, continually build your brand and understand what you want to be known for.

4. Understand the basics!

On first impression, the finance industry can appear extremely complex and of course, many people hide behind this perceived complexity to bamboozle with acronyms. Ultimately, everything in finance can be distilled down to cashflows. Understand cashflows and the way in which they are generated and managed and you will be well-equipped for most situations. At the same time, don’t make the mistake of applying logic to all situations: as previously stated, this is a people business and ultimately, the logical outcome doesn’t always prevail – emotions, politics and egos can (and do) drive outcomes in very different ways. Be aware of this in order to influence these ‘softer’ considerations where possible.

5. Understand both the macro and micro drivers impacting the sector.

The finance industry is undergoing significant transformation, being driven in large part by technology (FinTechs, the Internet of Things, Distributed Ledger Technology, Machine-Learning and Robotics, for example); demand from customers, and continued regulatory scrutiny. The industry continues to grapple with the fallout from the Financial Crisis of 2008, whereby RoE remains either single digit (when talking about European banks), or low teens (when talking about those in the US). Of course, we also have Brexit and the European banking landscape to contend with. Stay relevant and up to date on how these dynamics inform and impact the industry.

6. Manage your time effectively and robustly…

…and don’t lose sight of what’s important to you. Make time for friends and family, but also carve out time to step back, think and reassess. As part of this introspection, prioritise and maintain a focus on outcomes rather than activities – never be a busy fool.

7. Apply a customer-centric lens.

The finance industry has finally recognised the need to place the customer at the heart of its thinking: delivering better customer experience is key to retaining and attracting customers. Siloed, vertical, functional models have in large part been replaced by horizontal, cross-functional models that best serve the end-to-end customer journey. Understand this holistic approach, and how the digital ecosystem has a significant and growing part to play in how financial services are designed, distributed and consumed, and you won’t go far wrong.

8. Encourage a collegiate, inclusive way of working.

A further manifestation of this holistic, end-to-end thinking is the changing dynamic between the front and back office. Previously, the front office was viewed as the profit centre and the back office as a cost centre. There’s now a recognition that profit made in the front office can very quickly be lost in the back office unless transaction flows are effectively managed front-to-back. This not only requires investment in systems, governance and controls but also requires a cultural shift whereby people work in a more collaborative, co-operative way and incentives are designed to embed the right behaviours. This way of working is a top agenda item across all sectors of the finance Industry.

In summary, the finance Industry remains a rapidly-changing and evolving sector with multiple, inter-woven dynamics, which present opportunities, threats, risks and dependencies in equal measure. There are numerous multi-faceted and nuanced influences that are now shaping the future; disintermediation, digitalisation, commoditisation, customer centricity, culture and ways of working. Being able to quickly assimilate, navigate and interpret them will be key to ensuring you remain relevant and progressive in this industry. Volatility is, after all, the industry’s mainstay. This all results in the finance industry being a sector that continues to grab your interest, provide rewarding work (not just financial) and deliver some fun along the way…arguably the three main components needed to be successful in any sector, finance or otherwise.

According to a recent report by Paygaps.com, the mean pay gap in the financial and insurance sectors is 26.8%, with the median pay gap standing at 21.1%, which is in stark contrast to the national median average of 9.6%.

With women making up a little over a quarter of those employed in roles within the top pay quartile for the sector, the problem looks set to continue unless some radical steps are taken to change the current culture in financial services. HR & Business Consultant Sue Andrews discusses the hot topic in more detail.

So why is the problem so significant in the finance sector?

In simple terms, there just aren’t enough women progressing into higher paid roles in the sector and as long as this continues to be the norm, the gender pay gap isn’t going to go away. However, it’s not just at the top where the problem exists. Unfair pay systems and the presence of bias in the workplace all play a part in perpetuating the problem. The historical male dominance in the sector means that a radical overhaul is needed if the current imbalance is to be addressed.

Now is the time to address the problem

Now that organisations are forced to report their gender pay gap, the issue is at least receiving the focus and attention that’s needed to push the problem to the top of companies’ agendas. With figures being publicly available, organisations can no longer ignore the problem if they want to avoid the reputational damage of being named and shamed.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission state that 61% of female job applicants consider a company’s gender pay gap when deciding whether to accept a role. That’s a significant figure and means that companies really need to show that they’re on top of this and taking action where needed if they are going to attract the best talent. With 58% of women confirming that they would be unlikely to recommend their current employer as a good place to work if they had a gender pay gap, the peril of ignoring the data is clear.
What companies need to focus on now are practical ways to shift the needle, using their published report to share information on steps that they’ve put in place and details on how it has affected their gender pay gap.

According to a recent report by Paygaps.com, the mean pay gap in the financial and insurance sectors is 26.8%, with the median pay gap standing at 21.1%, which is in stark contrast to the national median average of 9.6%.

Step 1: Getting it right from day one

If the industry is going to address the current shameful pay gap, changes need to start at the point that people enter the sector or apply for a new role. The simple action of no longer asking applicants for details of their previous salary, which tends to perpetuate the pattern of paying women less, is a good way to start. That’s because women are likely to have been paid less in previous roles so using this to benchmark their new starting salary may actually suppress their pay below the level that companies feel they would have to offer to attract male staff.

The practice of asking for previous salary details is already outlawed in several states in the USA and whilst it’s still perfectly legal in the UK, finance companies would be well advised to think twice before basing pay offers on this data.

Step 2: Introduce transparent pay policies

One of the challenges that the sector faces is the way that many organisations manage their pay and remunerations policies. A lack of transparency in how pay structures are organised and applied has allowed inequalities and bias in the industry to go unchallenged. Regardless of the size of the company, making sure pay scales are both accessible and transparent is the first step to challenging the imbalance, as so long as secrecy exists, current practices will go unchallenged.

Having a transparent remuneration policy sends a strong message that the organisation is taking the issue seriously. Staff at all grades should be aware of how pay is structured at each level and what’s required to move between pay points. Of course management discretion may still form part of any decisions, but there needs to be an open and transparent process for authorising pay increases to remove the threat of bias creeping in.

The historical male dominance in the sector means that a radical overhaul is needed if the current imbalance is to be addressed.

Step 3: Encourage female ambition

Exactly why fewer women are reaching the higher levels of management in the sector is partly down to the way that society in general views ambition. So long as aspiring women are seen in a negative light, compared to their male colleagues, gender gaps will remain.
Even today many women still struggle to successfully negotiate for promotion and salary increases, compared to their male colleagues. This isn’t a problem that will fix itself and the industry needs to encourage women from an early stage in their careers to see building negotiation skills as a key part of their career development if these barriers are to be removed.
Men are generally much more likely to put themselves forward for promotion, even if not really ready, whereas women are often more inclined to doubt their readiness for the next rung on the ladder. Companies, therefore, need to actively encourage female employees, for example by setting up schemes to recognise talent and provide opportunities for individuals to widen their experience to prepare them for promotional opportunities when they occur.

Step 4: Genuinely support family-friendly policies

If the sector is going to overcome its current pay gap issues, companies need to genuinely embrace family-friendly working. That means more than just paying lip service to the issue and requires putting practical steps in place. Firms that offer improved paternity pay, for example, can help to shift the balance from women being the ones to predominantly take a career break to raise a family. Men may still worry how taking a break will be perceived in career terms and companies need to do more to encourage male staff to see this as an acceptable option.

Step 5: Make sure unconscious bias isn’t undermining your efforts

Even where companies have pledged to take action to address their pay gap, the problem won’t be solved if there is an underlying issue of unconscious bias in the organisation. With the historical male dominance of the finance sector, it’s not surprising that this remains an issue, so training those in key positions to recognise and avoid unconscious bias in their decision making is essential if genuine change is to be achieved.
Appointing a Diversity Manager to review promotional and recruitment decisions is a good way of adding an additional level of scrutiny, which means that Managers may be more careful in making their decisions if they have to justify them later.

So long as aspiring women are seen in a negative light, compared to their male colleagues, gender gaps will remain.

Change starts at the top

If the sector is going to make real changes to address the current gender pay gap issue then this needs to be led from the top, with senior management recognising the problem of pay disparity and committing to doing something about it.
This is the year when organisations need to get a grip on the problem and commit to actions to ensure that next year’s figures show genuine improvement. If the reporting requirements are subsequently extended to cover the Ethnicity Pay Gap, which looks very likely, then those organisations who have actively embraced tackling the gender issue will be better placed to address any ethnic pay gap concerns identified.

3 quick tips to help you review your gender pay gap

1. Review your last 12 months promotions – is there a gender imbalance? Is the proportion of men versus women in line with those at the grade below? Do women appear to get stuck at a certain level in the organisation? Where in the recruitment process are they falling away – are they not putting themselves forward, not being selected for an interview or being lost at the final selection stage?

2. Review the level of roles that women are being recruited into – are they disproportionally into lower-paid roles? If so this will affect your gender pay gap and needs review.

3. Review leavers from the company – do women leave at a quicker rate than men? Review leavers by level of seniority – are there any patterns? Review staff surveys as these may reveal information around staff engagement and if this differs between male and female staff.

About Sue Andrews:

Sue is a senior Human Resources professional with 25 years’ experience, gained across various challenging sectors and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Commencing her career in the finance sector in 1991, Sue worked for General Accident’s mortgage division. This was followed by a short period within the pensions division of London & Manchester. Sue then joined a large care organisation in the South West, where she developed her career as a senior HR professional. In her role as Director of HR & Organisational Development, Sue had responsibility for a workforce of up to 4000.

Sue has a wide breadth of knowledge covering all aspects of people management. Working at Board level, she has supported business leaders to design and deliver workforce strategies to promote business growth.

Having developed effective policies and procedures to reflect business aims and objectives, she has a detailed understanding of how a strong people strategy underpins an organisation’s success.

It’s been exactly a year since Harvey Weinstein was first accused of sexual harassment and assault. Since then, more than 50 women have made allegations against the Hollywood mogul, whilst the #MeToo movement has rapidly spread around the world with a shocking number of powerful men across a number of industries being pushed out of jobs and publicly accused of sexual misconduct. But despite the widespread popularity of the movement, it seems like the finance industry has been, to an extent, immune to claims of sexual harassment. Of course there have been cases that have been reported in the past twelve months, with Merrill Lynch employee, Jean McCrave Baxter, suing the firm over sexual harassment and discrimination being one of the most recent examples. Yet, many women in finance who have been harassed are reluctant to coming forward to talk about the abuse and most of the very few individuals who have spoken up openly about it have chosen to remain anonymous.

What’s hiding behind the silence?

We all must remember Sallie Krawcheck’s story about a man she met at a conference organised by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., where she was Research Director, who invited her to his hotel whilst “sticking out his tongue and wiggling it at [her]”. After moving to Citigroup in 2002, Mrs. Krawcheck found out that her harasser was about to get a job at the bank and told its CEO about the experience she’s had with him. After the Chief Executive’s suggestion that maybe this was all a misunderstanding, she threatened to quit, which resulted in Citigroup agreeing not to hire him. Krawcheck said that she’s decided not to name her harasser only because she got her revenge. “He wasn't in a position of power, and I got him back later", she says.

The first female trader to be invited into the partnership of Goldman Sachs, Jacki Zehner, on the other hand is withholding the name of her colleague who pulled her out of a taxi as he wanted to take her into his home after drinks because she’s too afraid. She also adds that she would never forgive herself for not reporting him.

Earlier this year, WealthManagement.com reported on the case of a personal banker who was working for a major firm in California and was responsible for 20% of the company’s clients. One of them, a Chief Financial Officer, used to ‘aggressively flirt with her’. “He would say: ‘When are you going to take me to the opera? When are you going to take me to a sporting event?’; I would say: ‘I will take you any time you want to go. You would take a date, and I would bring my husband.’ And he says: ‘No, I want this to be just you.’” On another occasion, she was sat at her desk when another client showed up. “This guy happened to walk in, and in the midst of me having a conversation with these other people, he turned my chair around, kissed me, and laughed”, she explains. “I got up, and I went into the manager. He responded: ‘I expect you do whatever it takes to keep that client.’ So I quit. I walked out the door. It was pretty traumatic because I worked hard to get to that position.”

In January 2018, Bloomberg interviewed 20 women who used to or still work on Wall Street and yet again, asked not to be identified. And although #MeToo has triggered some changes, these 20 women say that throughout their career, they have been ‘grabbed, kissed out of the blue, humiliated, and propositioned by colleagues and bosses but have stayed quiet because of cultural and financial forces that are particularly strong in banking’. These women worry that they have a lot to lose by reporting it and no certainty about what they could gain - all on top of legal agreements that ‘muzzle’ them.

Some may argue that the finance industry has already had its #MeToo moment in the mid-90s when a group of female employees from California to New York sued the giant brokerage firm Smith Barney Inc. for alleged sexual harassment, hostile work environment and job discrimination. The lawsuit prompted a number of other companies to put harassment procedures and mechanisms in place. And although we’ve reached a point where all major financial (and not only) institutions have policies for reporting harassment in place, a WealthManagement.com survey showed that 66% of the women who have been harassed or  witnessed harassment did not use the protocols in place to report the incident. The list of reasons included ‘fear of retaliation and ostracism within the office, the fact that the offender was the victim’s manager or a belief that the complaint would not be taken seriously’. One respondent remembers the one time she informally addressed an instance of sexual harassment that she’s been subject to and the response she got from her management - laughter and an explanation that this was ‘the nature of the beast’.

A lot can be said about the culture within finance, or ‘the nature of the beast’. On a global scale, the financial sector suggests a culture where it’s hard for women to thrive. Long hours, the travel and the pyramid-like structure that includes a lot of junior women, but disproportionately fewer and fewer of them as you get toward the top. On top of this, financial firms and institutions are built on relationships, they value discretion, demand sacrifice and fixate on reputation. The culture in their firms could be so intimidating that some of the women that Bloomberg interviewed for example are scared that bringing a sexual harassment claim to light could permanently alienate bosses, colleagues, and even rivals. Many in finance tend to attribute it to an industry norm, believing that this is the way things get done around here and victims need to develop a thick skin and get on with their life.

Alan Moore, Co-founder of XY Planning Network, a support network for advisers looking to serve next generation clients says: “There is a generation of men that simply don’t recognise harassment when they do it or when they see it. Women have been told time and time again, either verbally or through inaction, that harassment isn’t a big deal. You should just put on thicker skin and get over it. And so we haven’t given women a way to actually end the harassment without basically having to quit their job and move on.”

The unique nature of the culture makes removing oneself from the situation and moving to another company seem like the easier option – you won’t have to talk about it, you won’t have to face judgement and you won’t have to feel embarrassed. Even Sallie Krawcheck and Jacki Zehner, some of the very few women in finance who have had the bravery (and maybe the strong reputation) to open up about the traumatic experiences they have been victims to, have chosen not to ‘name and shame’ their harassers.

“You can have protocols in place that look great in theory, but if nobody is ever actually disciplined for having harassed somebody, then those protocols start to look like your complaint goes into a black hole and you never know what has happened other than you start to fear that you’ll be retaliated against”, says Eric Bachman, a Principal with Zuckerman Law and the Chair of their discrimination and retaliation practices.

“It’s really necessary for [firms] to be out in front of this and treat this like a real business problem that they need to be figuring out the solution to and giving it the appropriate prioritisation within the organisation”, Bachman continues. “And until that happens, you’re going to keep seeing sexual harassment problems in this industry.”

Arguing that every single woman working in finance has been harassed without addressing it was never my intention. I’m confident that there are countless women working in the financial services sector, who have reported the incident or whose gender has never sparked any problems – some even use it to their advantage. However, although the situation is improving, I believe the industry still has a long way to go – more women should take inspiration from women’s voices in other industries and more management teams should persuade female employees that making a complaint is not going to adversely impact their careers.

Sources:

https://money.cnn.com/2017/11/01/pf/naming-sexual-harassers/index.html

http://www.jackizehner.com/2017/10/19/metoo/

https://www.wealthmanagement.com/industry/nature-beast

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-11/why-wall-street-hasn-t-had-its-metoo-moment-yet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/?destination=%2farchive%2fbusiness%2f1996%2f11%2f06%2f26-women-sue-smith-barney-allege-bias%2f595f6d40-b69c-45cf-a1f8-a56c3167bcf8%2f%3f&utm_term=.9bf24b50233e

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/02/inside-wall-street-complex-shameful-and-often-confidential-battle-with-metoo

Digital transformation in finance has been the word on many people’s lips for some time now with new FinTechs being created on a daily basis. But it’s not just the FinTechs that have made a shift in this sector, it is also the big global tech firms such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft (GAFAM) that are now giving many organisations a run for their money, finance included, particularly with the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) coming into force.

Flexible and nimble challenger banks are also looking at how they can inject the market with customer-led, creative and digital solutions. Whilst there have been casualties and many failed attempts to claim a share of the market, this injection of competition has certainly stirred things up and made everyone review their brand, how they operate and engage customers more effectively.

Given the challenges over the last ten years, and the marketing-led approach that has been taken by many of these new entrants in financial services, it’s not surprising that the spotlight has returned to marketing and communications as a central component to developing a robust growth strategy.

Monzo, for example, is one such organisation that has ripped up the rule books and taken a fresh new approach to engaging a younger, digital first end customer. Having started as a digital only banking service it was granted a full banking license earlier this year.

Never has it been more relevant and important to have a robust marketing and communications process to support reputation and the development of more credible and trusted relationship with customers.

Central to this is being clear as to what your story is, and what you want to be known for. In an industry where there are many new and older organisations, having a clear point of view that is different and positions you as a credible leader is key to success.

Integral to this communication’s led approach is having a CEO and leadership team that will take the plunge and lead the discussion along this journey. As the head of an organisation, the CEO will directly influence the personality of the business. He or she will set the tone for business behaviours and be fundamental in the creation of its identity (with a little help along the way). In many ways, the CEO is an essential member of the marketing team and leading voice piece for the business, or arguably should be.

Whilst CEOs are rightly focused on growth and financial return, they also recognise the value of building the ‘good’ reputation of their business, with many seeing themselves as the reputational stewards. The KPMG 2017 Global CEO outlook report outlines how reputation and risk, alongside trust in a time of disruption, has risen on the CEO agenda to become one of the top most important issues they face today.

We recently surveyed over 500 CEOs and CMOs, and our research showed us that whilst 95% of CEOs claim to regularly engage with marketing, over 70% then go on to provide a range of reasons why this does not happen in reality. When the CMOs were asked about the levels of contact that they had with their CEO, 42% said they still struggled to engage their CEO. This was particularly interesting given the fact that 84% of CEOs believe that a robust communications strategy is critical to business growth.

It appears that whilst many leaders believe they are involved and engaged, there is a perception gap between the CEO and CMO on what this really means, and what is required of the CEO.

So, despite its growing importance in driving growth and supporting new entrants in the financial services industry and further, there is still a real challenge that needs to be overcome in educating the CEO and leadership teams around marketing and communications in practise and their need to engage actively in this. They may understand its importance, but it appears many CEOs are still unclear about the role they should play, and the value this will have.

For more information on this topic and advice about how we can help you approach this please go to: https://speedcommunications.com/xchange/leadership-marketing-gap/