Hybrid working 'life-changing' for City's women but fund sector still lags on gender parity

investmentweek.co.uk:

Helena Morrissey, chair of the Diversity Project, noted that there are still only 12% of named fund managers who are women.

In an evidence session today (17 October), MPs heard that the fund management sector was a laggard on gender parity for pay and positions, but a post-Covid shift to hybrid working has triggered «life changing» flexibility for women in the City, which is now under threat from a return to the office.

The comments formed part of testimony in evidence to the committee to gauge what progress, if any, has been made in advancing gender equality in the financial sector since the Women in Finance Charter began collecting data in 2018.

MPs also wanted to answer the question, ‘Are firms, regulators and government doing enough to tackle sexism in the City?' as part of the committee's Sexism in the City inquiry.

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Fiona Mackenzie, CEO of think tank The Other Half, told the committee the «accidental impact» of hybrid working from the pandemic «has had huge benefits for working parents, and particularly for women» for whom it has been «life changing».

«There are lots of women in the City doing roles they would not be able to fulfil, because they can now work in a way which is home based sometimes…and there is flexibility on when and where you work,» she said.

Following the pandemic, many workplaces, including finance firms, are now reversing their work from home policies, however, leading to an apparent exodus of female talent.

Mackenzie told MPs: «Lots of CEOs do not love [hybrid working]. They know that people love it, but they are quite keen to switch it off. Certainly in the investments industry, lots of it is now being dialled back. 

»Now there are women