Female appointments to UK financial boardrooms down 61%

Appointments of female board directors to the UK’s largest financial services firms declined year-on-year in 2023, according to the latest EY European Financial Services Boardroom Monitor. The report highlights that just 33% of all appointments last year were of female directors, down from 61% in 2022. A downward trend in female appointments was also seen across European financial boardrooms, albeit to a lesser degree, where female appointments declined seven percentage points. The EY Boardroom Monitor charts the profile, experience, training and skill sets of board directors across the MSCI European Financials Index. The data is supplemented with a sentiment polling survey of 300 European financial services investors. When asked about the boardroom gender diversity of a firm they are looking to potentially invest in 82% said it has a significant influence. While all UK financial services firms monitored have female representation at boardroom level, the current gender split across all firms stands at 57% male and 43% female – remaining unchanged from 2022. This year, of major European markets, the UK had the lowest proportion of female appointments to financial services boards (33%), falling behind France, where 64% of board directors appointed in 2023 were female, Germany (54%), Italy (45%) and Switzerland (43%). 21% of listed UK financial services firms still report under 40% female representation in their boardroom, ahead of European peers, 31% of which are yet to attain this threshold. 40% is the level required by the FCA’s rules on diversity and inclusion for company boards and executive management, which applied to all listed UK companies for financial accounting periods from 1 April 2022. Anna Anthony, EY UK financial services managing partner, said: “While annual fluctuations in the make-up of boardrooms are to be expected, a decline in the number of UK female director appointments of this magnitude is concerning. Tougher reporting requirements on gender diversity, requiring firms to comply or explain their current diversity metrics, are clearly not yet driving the necessary change at pace. “Diversity is a key driver of performance, and increasing female representation on boards is not a nice-to-have, but a must-have. Efforts to grow the pipeline must be prioritised and should go above and beyond regulatory minimum requirements.” C-suite experience was the top criteria for new board recruitment in 2023, with 81% of new appointments to UK financial boards during the year bringing current or past executive management team experience. This compares to 59% of new appointments across Europe bringing c-suite experience. Of directors with c-suite experience appointed to UK financial firms this year, just 36% were female, down from 50% in 2022. Across UK financial services boardrooms, female directors remain significantly less likely than their male counterparts to have the experience of a c-suite role or hold a senior board position. 58% of female directors have the experience of an executive management team role, while 77% of male directors have similar experience. There are no women in senior board positions (Chair, CEO, CFO or senior independent director) at 26% of the UK’s listed financial firms. Andrew Hobbs, EMEIA Center for Board Matters leader at EY, said: “While there are de facto a smaller number of female candidates with c-suite experience, the ideal board is not necessarily made up entirely of individuals who have all held the most senior roles. “Diversity of experience should not be underestimated, especially as financial services firms increasingly navigate complex new focus areas which require specialist, less traditional skills and experience, for example, in sustainability, technology, risk and geopolitics.”