It is great to see large firms getting behind women entrepreneurs and diversity in smaller businesses.

Mark.Freed / 12 Feb 2020

It is fantastic to see large firms getting behind women entrepreneurs and diversity in smaller businesses. Women Entrepreneurs RBS’ new boss Alison Rose today announced £1bn in funding through Natwest to support female entrepreneurs in the UK.  Rose will aim to support the creation of 50,000 startups by 2023...

Citi say diversity is a competitive advantage…

Mark.Freed / 05 Feb 2020

Understanding the gender pay gap I recently read this article on Bloomberg, which talked about Citibank in Singapore adjusting the pay of their female staff to bring it in line with men doing the same work. My first thought was to celebrate – after all, it’s a positive...

E2W Member Sarah Chapman: Tackling gender inequality for the next generation at Deutsche Bank.

Katie.Dix / 27 Jan 2020

E2W Member, Sarah, is tackling gender inequality for the next generation at Deutsche Bank.  Here we have republished an article, originally created for Deutsche Careers website.  The banking industry is evolving. It’s more international, more technologically-innovative, and more regulated than ever before. As...

Fair warning, it’s a bit of a rant in places. But I think it needs to be. Here are my hopes for 2020.

Mark.Freed / 02 Jan 2020

It’s now 1:30 in the morning. I am not often up this late, but when I am, it’s usually because I’m partying with my wife, Tina. Tonight is different, though. Something is keeping me awake, which is rare. I have a task in the...

Taking diversity seriously: gender identity

Katie.Dix / 10 Dec 2019

Taking diversity seriously: gender identity While the gender balance at all levels of an organisation is an important, and measurable, element of a company’s diversity policy, it is by no means the only one. Creating an inclusive environment is also significant if you want to help everyone work...

Dr Alessandra Wall - Nine things you can do to be a good ally

Katie.Dix / 10 Dec 2019

Nine things you can do to be a good ally “I’m just not sure what I can do about it…” “Listen, I’m not the one [insert discriminating behaviour or state]! So, what am I supposed to do?” It’s hard...

Making diversity a real imperative

Mark.Freed / 04 Dec 2019

In late October, we reported on the launch of the latest Diversity Project Report: ‘Time to get serious: If diversity is a business imperative, treat it like one’. This was an impressive and well-argued document that clearly had the backing of many senior people in the industry, as...

The annual Oliver Wyman report into women in financial services claims that progress is being made on a global scale.

Mark.Freed / 18 Nov 2019

The annual Oliver Wyman report into women in financial services demonstrates that the global industry is finally making progress in gender equality. The report, which can be downloaded from Oliver Wyman’s website says, that the industry is finally making progress on gender diversity in the workforce....

Investec launch their Return to Work Programme

Katie.Dix / 04 Nov 2019

We are delighted to see that Investec have launched a market leading return to Work Programme.   Not all careers in financial services are the same: It is possible to combine professional success with the entrepreneurial spirit and genuine relationships that bring an organisation to life. The answer lies in...

Standard Life Aberdeen - Parental Leave

Mark.Freed / 30 Oct 2019

Congratulaitons to Standard Life Aberdeen Congratulations and big well done to Standard Life Aberdeen who this week announced a new, market-leading parent leave policy that sets a new precedent across businesses in the UK. From 1 January 2020, all employees in the UK welcoming a child into their family will be...

The Three Role Challenge

Mark.Freed / 30 Oct 2019

About now many firms will be in the midst of preparing their commentary to accompany their gender pay gap reports.   Most firms last year used the excuse of lack of female talent. This is something we at E2W find hard to believe. We have an abundance of...

Can we make diversity a priority over all other recruitment strategies and policies?

Mark.Freed / 22 Oct 2019

I attended an event this morning alongside HR and recruitment professionals from major investment managers. The discussion was focussed on exploring how to attract, recruit and retain more members of the LGBTQ+ community.    Not surprisingly, the challenges faced by the community are similar to those faced by...

Jane Johnson “I increasingly see diversity handled as a campaign or even a commercial product, when it’s actually about huge cultural change.”

Katie.Dix / 09 Oct 2019

Are firms spending more on promoting themselves as being diverse and inclusive than they are on making the changes necessary to move the dial? Many of our regular readers will have noticed the rising levels of frustration that having invested in and built a capability to be able to quickly...

“All too often, you look upwards for allies and ignore the guy that is sitting right next you.”

Mark.Freed / 30 Sep 2019

I am delighted to have been invited to speak at Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association (PIMFA) Women in Wealth Forum on 8th October 2019. I have been asked to speak on the subject of Male Allies, a subject that fills me with mixed emotions and fears. I see so...

Quick fire Q&A with Fiona Sainz, E2W Advisory Board member

Katie.Dix / 21 Aug 2019

Fiona has extensive COO/business management and business development experience in both buy and sell-side blue chip firms, with expertise in Global Markets, Corporate and Investment Banking. Fiona's experience across the financial industry has given her a unique ability to identify correlations and commercial opportunities. Fiona...

E2W candidates are, more often than not, the best person for the job and team!

Mark.Freed / 14 Aug 2019

I read a great article last week by Sallie Krawcheck, the CEO and co-founder of Ellevest. Sallie had been asked, whilst on a conference panel, the question “Knowing that diversity is a desirable objective, if you have two candidates for a board role and the white male is...

Women Continuers – Delivering Value

Katie.Dix / 07 Aug 2019

Giving hundreds of talented people the opportunity to continue their careers at a time in their lives when they have other priorities to juggle, was the building block of E2W’s Business. For almost two decades, city institutions have relied on E2W's talented &lsquo...

This week our recruitment team have helped three of our members secure offers

Katie.Dix / 24 Jul 2019

So let's celebrate! This week our recruitment team have helped three of our members secure offers for new roles. In doing so they have helped two clients find and recruit the ‘best person for the job’ and also help their firm become more successful by becoming...

E2W member Guinevere Taylor - why do women leave Financial Services?

Katie.Dix / 24 Jul 2019

E2W member Guinevere Taylor - Associate Director at RBC Global Asset Management Whilst there are now more women in top tier roles and present in boardrooms than there has ever been, there is still a gap in middle-management. Women start careers in finance in equal numbers to men,...

A lack of female talent OR poor recruitment practices?

Mark.Freed / 15 Jul 2019

I’ve heard a lot of senior bankers recently saying that we will not get more women at the top in financial services by firms recruiting each other’s women.  When you look at the backgrounds of the people saying this, most of them got to the...