Kate Webber, head of product strategy at Northern Trust, and Ana Jordan, general counsel at Embark, speak to Lucy Carter about the work that Women in Asset Servicing has done over the past five years — and what comes next
The financial world has long had a reputation for being a boys’ club, and the asset servicing industry is no exception. After two decades in the sector and seeing a notable lack of women in senior roles, Kate Webber established Women in Asset Servicing (WiAS) to improve female representation across the industry and facilitate women’s rise to senior positions.
The group is underpinned by four main goals: to recruit and retain women in the industry, nurture talent, improve female visibility within asset servicing and attract the next generation of women in the business.
Being heard
WiAS offers workshops, mentoring schemes, networking events and more, taking a holistic approach to women’s professional — and personal — development.
The ‘Finding Your Voice’ workshop is an example of this. Since 2019, the sessions have been “helping participants to discover how best to present their voice on any topic they want.” Working with a professional coach, the session concludes with each participant delivering a five-minute speech on a topic of their choice.
The initiative is run in collaboration with Informa, who approached WiAS after having difficulty getting female speakers onto their panels: “Women either did not get the opportunity to be put forward by organisations or more importantly, when they did, they would pull out because they were having an impostor syndrome moment, or a confidence issue,” Webber explains.
“Although participants may not always go on to do a lot of speaking, they do use the confidence that they build from [the workshops]. That’s very important,” Webber stresses. The skills learned through WiAS initiatives “are not just related to what we do, but are far more wide-reaching,” she explains, having an influence on women beyond their ability to sit on a panel. In the last year, the ‘Finding Your Voice’ workshops have led to participants receiving a We Are The City Tech 100 Women award and a Heroes Award.
“WiAS is not prescriptive about what people want to do within our industry,” Webber assures. By taking a broader approach, the organisation allows individuals to take what they need from its offerings and use the resources they gain in a way they see fit. “Everybody has a different goal, everybody has a different career path ”
“We won’t tell someone how to do something; instead, we’ll give them the skills that enable them to be the best that they wish to be, to carry on being individuals.”
Soft skills
WiAS’ events place a focus on ‘soft skills,’ which are much neglected in what Webber points out is a “relationship business.” Building such skills and understanding where improvement is needed is how both men and women become better at their jobs, she says.
People working in asset servicing need to be able to connect with one another, to connect with their clients and to be self-assured in their capabilities.
Building that confidence is a tenet of WiAS’ mission. After researching why women get “stuck” in non-senior roles, the organisation found that bravery, accurate self-assessment of skills and networking were three key areas where support was needed.
The development of soft skills “is where we can really drive change” in the industry, Jordan believes, “making sure that we have a really strong pipeline of confident women” ready to take the helm. WiAS’ network and events can provide the support and opportunities needed to “equip people with the right skills and confidence” and help them to be the best they can be in their roles, she adds.
Embark
WiAS’ partnership with digital retirement and savings platform Embark, which began in early 2021, “has been a real force for good,” Webber enthused. Since the partnership began, WiAS has seen a 150 per cent increase in its membership. “They’ve given us time, passion and ideas,” along with “a sense of professionalism that we couldn’t get ourselves.”
Embark, which has been a part of Lloyds Banking Group since January 2022, provides WiAS with the “firepower” to make their events more effective, allowing them to reach a greater audience and raise their profile in the industry. This, in turn, has helped to create bonds with other organisations and expand the network that WiAS has cultivated. LGBT Great, Women in Platforms and City CV have all worked with the organisation in 2022, and plans are afoot for more collaborations in 2023.
Embark is equally as animated about WiAS’ mission: “it’s something extremely important and energising for people,” Jordan explains. “They want to be part of something that’s driving change within our industry.”
The organisation truly is a passion project, and “the fact that the membership has grown so much reinforces that there’s a need for this,” Jordan observes. “[WiAS] is filling a gap, and it’s making a big difference.”
Ensuring genuine diversity
Across the industry, concerns about unreliable or outright false claims of ESG credentials remain prevalent. In the diversity, equity and inclusion sphere, whispers of performativity and ‘box-ticking’ abound, with companies’ commitments to their initiatives far more superficial than may be desired.
Webber and Jordan advocate for a shift from a quantitative to a qualitative approach to combat this issue.
“Targets are important,” Webber affirms, “but we’re getting to a tipping point where we’re going from just plain numbers to more nuanced areas.” What roles are women holding in the industry — are they stuck in what Webber dubs “mushy middle management,” or are they making impactful decisions about the business? “We have to make sure that it’s not just about numbers, but about putting the right people in the right roles,” she asserts.
Once women are in these more senior positions, the work is far from over: “you’ve got to have the right support structures in place,” Jordan says. “It’s not enough to put someone in a role and leave them to it.” Access to mentors, sponsors and leadership tools are essential to ensure that people can “thrive and operate at their best,” she adds, “able to leverage other people’s experiences and skills” and benefit from the “hints and tips” of those who have come before them.
Jordan emphasises the need for change on an institutional rather than individual level: “Inclusivity is not just getting one person into a role that’s available now,” she argues. “What are you doing about your pipeline? How are you investing in your talent?”
Inclusivity is not a one-step programme — it requires a strong infrastructure that runs through an organisation from the ground up. Businesses “constantly need to hold themselves to account,” she says, and “make sure that unconscious bias isn’t creeping in.”
Currently, leadership pathways within asset servicing organisations “are very traditional,” Webber notes.
“They’re built on how the people in power became leaders themselves.” If a different form of leadership is to be achieved, one that gives a wider range of people the opportunity to hold senior roles, then these pathways need to be reshaped.
“At the moment, we’re asking women to change the way that they are thinking in order to support their careers. It’s now important that we start to challenge organisations to changing their frameworks,” Webber argues.
Organisations need to understand the reasons that women aren’t reaching executive roles — and take action. “You won’t have people who are board-ready unless you get them prepared through their 20s and 30s,” Webber says.
“If we wait for current leadership pathways to do it for us, in a decade’s time we will be in exactly the same place as we are today,” she predicts.
These high-level goals are not going to be achieved overnight. “You can’t change a millennium in a heartbeat, but we do need to speed things up a little,” Webber stresses.
Research suggests that, within the next five years, women will own 60 per cent of investable wealth in the UK. In order to effectively serve this growing demographic, the industry must adapt to its changing clientele.
This doesn’t mean that women only want to be served by women, Webber explains. Rather, “they want to be able to feel that the people that are servicing them are representative of them. They have to feel that they’re not being talked down to.”
Those working in asset servicing need to be aware of their clients’ needs, and for some organisations, that may require a cultural shift. WiAS is keen to work with men as well as women, helping all those in the industry to work at the best level that they can.
“Everyone needs to be a part of this conversation,” Jordan says, adding that “there’s plenty of research that shows the benefits that diversity and inclusion brings to risk management frameworks, to good conduct, to healthy working cultures, and to innovation.” It’s in the interest of companies in asset servicing to embrace change and give voices to those who have often been muted in the past.
Women’s health in the workplace
Society at large is, belatedly, beginning to acknowledge the menopause and the impact that it has on women’s lives. Light is being thrown onto the lack of support offered to women going through the menopause, reinforcing the fact that many workplaces and corporate structures have not been built with women in mind.
Organisations like Embark are putting mechanisms in place to help employees experiencing the menopause, offering a Let’s Talk service with access to a range of resources, running self-care workshops for those affected and providing a dedicated Healthline, giving employees access to trained nurses.
“It’s something that impacts all workspaces and all employees,” Jordan emphasises, whether they are experiencing the menopause themselves or know someone who is. In order for organisations to effectively support their employees, “the first step is talking about it,” she states. “That conversation shouldn’t just be between the people who are directly going through it — everyone needs to be aware of it.”
That being said, how much can reasonably be done by organisations like WiAS to combat an issue that is so deep-rooted in society?
Difficulties around the menopause go far beyond work life; “your days can’t stop because you’ve got a migraine,” Webber remarks.
“Our biggest event last year was on women’s health,” Webber recalls. This garnered quick results: “A number of women who attended that event then went to the doctor and got onto the right treatment programme.” Offering access to specialised medical services can make a huge difference to women’s lives, and is an important, achievable step for workplaces to take. However, it only plasters over the cracks in the healthcare industry at large.
Webber is quick to point out that organisations like WiAS, and workplaces at large, can’t do it all — nor should they have to. “There has to be a real pressure on the medical profession,” she insists.
“Much more time needs to be spent investigating the menopause and how to support women effectively through it, with no taboos.” Conversations are a starting point, but the real change will only come from medical research and understanding.
The future
In 2023, WiAS celebrates its fifth anniversary. Looking back on what the organisation has achieved thus far, Webber reflects that for her, “it’s always about the stories.”
“It’s about the woman who found her voice and went on to win the technology award. It’s about the woman who stopped deliberating about that role that she wanted to get, got the bit between her teeth and applied for it. It’s about the young woman who fled Ukraine last year, who we managed to get an interview — she’s now working at the Lloyds Banking Group.”
The list goes on; WiAS has offered support, guidance and community to hundreds through its network and events.
Looking ahead, “I really want us to start reaching in and persuading younger women that financial services, asset servicing in particular, is a fantastic career,” Webber says.
“I want them to know that if they want to have a great career, but they also want to be able to start to change the way the world works, our industry is where they want to think about being.”
She envisages WiAS as a “mechanism” for young women at school or university to learn about careers in financial services and learn essential skills that will benefit them both in their professional and personal lives.
“We can enable them to have a confidence toolkit to be able to just get out there and get started,” she outlines, helping to create the next generation of female leaders. “Wealth is going to be in the hands of women, and finding ways to encourage more women to come into our industry is really important.”
Jordan adds that continuing the growth trajectory of membership for WiAS is a priority for the years ahead. “It’s about bringing people in, and for the people who are already in, it’s about helping them and raising them up, giving them the skills that are needed for them to thrive.”
While being a force for education, the organisation equally welcomes new ideas; “I’m looking forward to seeing more diversity of thought and different ways of looking at things,” Jordan says.
Webber’s creation of WiAS goes to show the influence that one person’s actions can have.
The organisation’s growth, demonstrable impact on individuals and reputation in the industry prove how necessary such programmes are, and the enthusiasm of those at WiAS suggests that their journey to transform and reshape the asset servicing world is only just beginning.
