The Key Learning Points:

1. The 12 key financial perils that women face throughout their life course 

2. Advice on the six key moments when intervention can be made to improve women’s financial resilience 

3. How businesses can improve their services for customers as well as improving the financial inclusion and wellbeing of their employees 

In this special episode of the Risky Mix podcast we were lucky to be joined by two founders of Insuring Women’s Futures (IWF), Sian Fisher, CEO of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), and Jane Portas, Insurance Partner from PwC. The IWF is looking to improve the financial resilience of women in society. They launched their manifesto last year which outlines five pillars of activity, aiming to drive change in the profession and beyond.

IWF was born out of an Insurance Supper Club dinner, where Sian and Jane found themselves sat next to each other and spent the evening sharing stories about their experiences and those of their mothers and grandmothers, particularly around the topic of financial resilience. After agreeing that many women today still face the same money issues which impacted the older women in their families, Sian and Jane decided to take action and launched IWF, as part of the CII. Their beliefs around the financial resilience of women were confirmed while attending the Women of the World festival, and asking attendees the question; ‘Do you think women’s risks in life are the same as men’s, and do you think they are suitably engaged with those risks?’, with the overwhelming response being ‘no’.

Jane explains the risk assessment she conducted which enabled her to identify 12 key perils and pitfalls that women face throughout their life course. Contained within the Securing the financial future of the next generation report, Jane outlines some shocking statistics from her research, one such example being that men’s average pension wealth is five times that of women’s. Sian and Jane explain that their analysis enabled them to identify six moments that matter, six points in women’s lives when interventions can be made to improve their financial resilience.

Sian tells us about the manifesto, which prioritises five key pillars for action, based on the findings from the perils and pitfalls research and moments that matter. Three of those pillars are aimed at improving financial resilience for women in society, and Sian explains that they are working with government, regulators and the third sector. The two remaining pillars are aimed at our profession and how we can improve our services for customers, as well as improving financial inclusion and wellbeing of our employees.

Sian and Jane have kindly invited all those looking to support Insuring Women’s Futures to their event on the 19th November at the Odeon BFI IMAX, where they will launch the outputs of their work and the pledges they are asking of the industry.

For more information on the fantastic work of IWF, please see: www.insuringwomens futures.co.uk

The Key Learning Points:

 1. The need for a greater focus on attracting young people to the insurance industry

 2. Advice for women on how to be your true confident self in the workplace

 3. How to change company practices to reflect the different needs men and women have in the workplace

In this week’s episode of the Risky Mix podcast we speak with Karen Graves, a lady who has had an impressive career in the Lloyd’s and London markets, working in CEO and COO roles, before becoming head of operations for EMEA at SCOR. With 30+ years’ experience in the insurance industry, she’s now a non-executive director at USAA UK and SA and is driving positive change and diversity in the industry as chair of the Independent Women in Insurance Network (iWIN).

Karen tells us about her career, coming from Leicester and moving to London and “falling into” an insurance role in the City. We often hear people admitting to falling into insurance, and Karen wants to change that, making our industry a career of choice for young people, rather than an accident. On the drivers behind her success, Karen explains that she took opportunities when they presented themselves and approached everything with a degree of tenacity, but admits that she probably didn’t plan her career as well as she should and advises women today to be more thoughtful around their career and to have more control.

Karen raised the point that “as women, we want to fit in, but we need to stand out with our own qualities.” She explains that she spent a lot of time worrying, in the early stages of her career, about how she looked, to fit in, and felt that she needed to dial down her personality. She found that there were expectations that she looked a certain way but believes that how you dress and how you represent yourself is part of who you are. Karen believes strongly that we need to be seen and to represent our personality in the office daily and urges women not to feel pressured into conforming physically in the way that they dress. 

Karen explains that when she hit her early 50s she started to feel slightly invisible, which prompted her to think about what she should do next. Explaining that by this point her son was slightly older, she had the time and space to focus on herself, the first time in her career that she’d had the opportunity to do that. She decided that she wanted to do things differently, to move out of the corporate world slightly and start thinking about the things that she was passionate about.

Which brings us to today. Karen is currently chair of iWIN, although part of her hates the fact that she is chair of a women’s committee in 2019. She believes that conversations about women are difficult to have, explaining that they are very black and white. Karen expresses a view that in our desire to be very politically correct, we often look to offer things for everybody, but she thinks women need different things to men, particularly when thinking about careers. She believes that many women need support in understanding their skill sets, knowing how to speak about what they’re good at and representing themselves in a positive way.  

The Key Learning Points:

1. Advice on making the transition from the corporate world to setting up your own business 

2. The importance of talking to friends about how to start saving and how to get on the property ladder 

3. How encouraging and supporting other women can help improve diversity and inclusion in the financial sector 

In this episode of the Risky Mix podcast we speak with Naomi Greatorex, managing director of Heath Protection Solutions, and her daughter Heather, case manager at advice firm LDN finance. 

Having spent time at AXA, Scottish Provident and Vitality, supporting intermediaries across mortgages and insurance, Naomi identified a gap in the market for specialist face-to-face protection advice so took the plunge and set up her own advice firm, Heath Protection Solutions, in 2014. Naomi has worked hard to build relationships with businesses in the professional services sector, such as accountants and lawyers, who refer their clients to Naomi to discuss protection needs.

Naomi explains that the decision to leave the corporate world and set up her own business came from a desire to take more control of her life, she wanted to make a real difference to peoples’ lives and was keen to bring back the client-facing element that she was missing in her previous B2B corporate positions. She admits that the early stages of her business journey were tough, but Heather being slightly older made the process easier because Naomi was able to dedicate the required time to developing Heath Protection Solutions.  

Heather entered the financial services industry after completing work experience with LDN Finance, where her mum is also protection director. She speaks of the excellent culture the business has developed and praises the diverse gender mix at the firm. Heather explains how her role in financial services inspired her to start saving into an ISA and explains that she regularly speaks with her friends about saving and getting onto the property ladder. 

Naomi believes that encouragement and supporting other women, particularly when that comes from women in leadership roles, will ultimately help to improve diversity and inclusion in our industry. For Heather, confidence is key. She was given the confidence to enter the industry, complete her exams, and is working towards a successful career in financial services. 

People often admit that they fell into financial services, but we have the power to change that and make our industry a career of choice by sharing the amazing things we do, whether that’s helping people to buy their first home, or being there during the tough times, we change lives, and that’s something we should all be proud of. 

The Key Learning Points:

 1. How financial awareness and the literacy of women can contribute to the gender pension gap

 2. The impact of the ‘Are You In’ movement and how it aims to change the culture within financial services

 3. The need for more financial education in schools and in the workplace

In this episode of the Risky Mix podcast we speak with Anna Sofat, founder and managing director of Addidi, a financial advice firm which specialises in supporting women and their families.

In part 2 of our chat with Anna, we learn more about Addidi, a family business that was built with women in mind. The ‘Create.Invest.Enjoy’ program delivers a holistic approach to Women’s wealth, encouraging younger women to think more about their financial futures and older women to enjoy their accumulated wealth. And for Anna, it’s as much about enjoying your money as it is accumulating it, which she explains can sometimes be at odds with traditional wealth advice.

When thinking about financial awareness and literacy of women, Anna believes that we need to think differently. She explains that, when it comes to money, we are often driven by our short-term needs, which for many women can be around starting a family. And those decisions will impact our future finances, leading to the large pension gap that women now face. Anna feels that we need more financial education in school and encourages corporates to provide their staff with access to financial education and support in the workplace.

We also learn more about the Are You In? movement, a movement that is designed to change the culture within financial services. Anna believes that we need an overarching purpose that people can engage with, both inside and outside of the industry. That’s why she’s working with 10-12 businesses to look at their purpose and how that’s impacting their company culture and changing behaviours. At an individual level, Anna believes that culture can be changed from the bottom up, and is asking everyone to sign up to one of the five pledges which form part of the movement.

For more information, and to make your pledge, visit: https://www.addidi.com/areyouin/

The Key Learning Points:

1. How the male-dominated financial services sector can lead to women committing huge personal sacrifices to climb the corporate ladder

2. How to create a successful business that still resonates with your personal values

3. The need for businesses to develop products and services with women in mind in order to reduce the gender inequality surrounding financial independence 

In this episode of the Risky Mix podcast we speak with Anna Sofat, founder and managing director of Addidi, a financial advice firm which specialises in supporting women and their families.

In part 1 of our chat with Anna, we hear about her career and personal journey in financial services. Starting out in the banking world, Anna realised that climbing the corporate ladder would mean a huge personal sacrifice, hearing “well that’s the end of that then” after explaining to her boss that she was pregnant, and working in a culture driven by facetime rather than flexibility, Anna knew the corporate world wasn’t for her.

On leaving the banking sector, Anna joined the first “for-women-by-women” business, set up in the late 80s, to help women become more financially independent, and admits that it was the first place she felt at home in financial services. Anna explains that she gained an appreciation of the fact that you can do business in a different way, knowing that you can build something successful that still resonates with your values, and so Addidi was born.

‘The voice of women’s wealth’, Addidi was set up with a strong focus on supporting women with their finances after Anna became aware of just how great the need was, explaining that by 2020, women will have more than 50% of all investable wealth. But worryingly, according to Anna’s research, only 10% of women feel that the financial industry meets their needs. Explaining that women cited ‘jargon’ and ‘being sold to’ as the main issues, Anna believes we can be doing more as an industry to develop products that are designed with women in mind.

Anna is on a mission to change the culture of wealth, spearheading the Are You In? movement. It’s a movement that’s not about men and women, it’s about values, and Anna believes that our industry could be the one to set a new tone, using our power for the better, to do things differently.