The world of money
is welcoming women By Anna Rich THE financial services industry, which traditionally has been overwhelmingly the domain of men, has recently made major strides in opening up to women intent on pursuing a career in finance. This is the view of Llewellyn Paulse, managing director of The Recruitment Council, which serves the financial services and advisory recruitment sector. “Although financial services across insurance, wealth, banking, finance and financial management have traditionally been a predominantly male career choice, we have seen a major shift in this space over a number of years,” Paulse says. In part, he attributes the shift to societal changes in gender roles. “Within the financial advisory sector, the playing field has been levelled between male and female professionals due to factors such as the necessity for dual household incomes, co-parenting, and the increase in women requiring advice on their finances,” Paulse says. “Furthermore, financial services and finance are within the top three industries that women aspire to as a career choice.” The South African financial sector is a significant provider of employment, and of employment for women. “There are 11 576 active Financial Services Provider (FSP) licences registered with the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA). Finance-related companies employ about 2.5 million people, according to the Statistics SA Quarterly Labour Force Survey figures for the first quarter of 2021. And of these employees, approximately 43% are women,” says Paulse. “It is encouraging to see this upswing in female representation.” In the financial planning sector, the most recent figures from the Financial Planning Institute (FPI) show that the proportion of female members of the Institute is currently 32%. The number of women with a relevant professional designation is 1 668, and of those, the number who have the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation is 1 514. The proportion of black women is lower, but numbers have been increasing slightly each year. Employers are making a concerted effort to appoint women. “Companies across the sector – from financial advisory firms to blue chip corporates, brokerages, investment advisory firms in the wealth space, and life, shortterm and commercial insurance – are driving the acquisition of female candidates across all races, but of black African women in particular,” Paulse says.
