Editorial | Women’s leadership in finance affirms Hong Kong’s commitment to diversity
While there is still more work to be done, the city has made considerable progress on advancing gender equality in the financial sector
According to a joint report by the Women Chief Executive Network, KPMG and the Women’s Foundation, women held 45 per cent of senior leadership roles – namely CEO, managing director and executives up to three reporting levels below – in banks, asset management, insurance and fintech. This is up from 34 per cent in 2018. It also found that 37 per cent of boards of directors in the financial sector were women, up from 21 per cent in 2018.
To be sure, there is some way to go to realise gender equality on boards and the potential governance benefits of more diversity. For comparison, women held about 43 per cent of board positions in Britain’s FTSE 100 companies about a year ago, which placed the UK second among Group of Seven countries. A ban by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing on single-gender boards at the beginning of the year has almost eradicated them. And it does no harm to business, with the Financial Services Development Council calling it “confidence-building” for investors to see HKEX taking steps to achieve a fairer balance of available talent among directors.
In other report findings, survey respondents cited Hong Kong’s safety as one factor in women’s career progression. According to Amy Lo Choi-wan, chairman of UBS global wealth management in Asia, one of Hong Kong’s strengths is that it encourages entrepreneurship and pragmatism. “Diversity here feels organic, not imposed, and women benefit from a broad culture … that empowers them to lead with confidence and authenticity,” said Lo. High praise indeed for a city where more than 800 firms – or 40 per cent of listed companies – had no female directors as recently as 2022. Women Chief Executives Hong Kong says today’s summit is set to bring together more than 200 C-suite senior executives, including global CEOs and CFOs.