Aviva boss Amanda Blanc appointed Women in Finance Champion
Amanda Blanc, chief executive of Aviva, has been appointed the Treasury’s Women in Finance champion.
She succeeds Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia, former chief executive of Virgin Money, who led the 2016 review into the representation of women in the industry.
The Treasury launched its Women in Finance Charter after the review and it now has over 400 signatories to the Charter covering 950,000 employees across the sector.
It comes as the fourth annual review into the Charter, led by think tank New Financial, found 70 per cent of the 209 signatories which signed before September 2019 have met or are on track to meet their targets.
“This is a huge honour but also a huge responsibility. Ensuring women have as many opportunities as men in financial services is critical. It’s critical for women. It’s critical to the future of UK financial services. And a successful, inclusive, financial services industry is critical to a revitalised UK economy,” Blanc said.
“There are still far too many barriers blocking women’s progress in financial services. We’ve got to work quicker and harder. Now is the time for less talk, more action,” she added.
New Financial’s research found the pandemic proved to be a huge test for the industry. Of the 81 signatories due to meet their targets by the end of 2020, 37 missed their targets.
“The Women in Finance Charter isn’t a box ticking exercise – it requires real change to help talented women to reach their potential and drive forward one of our most important and innovative sectors. The last year presented a unique set of challenges and there is still much more to do, so firms must not take their foot off the gas,” John Glen, economic secretary to the Treasury said.