First and foremost, Happy New Year!
All of us here at Leverton hope you were able to celebrate in one of the many creative ways we have all discovered during the past year. Reflecting on 2020 may have been slightly harder this year, but it’s so important to note all of the little wins, from starting new careers to learning how to bake banana bread (haven’t we all!).
2021 has been all go at Leverton Search since returning from the festive break. The market is full of opportunities with the team working on lots of open roles across the industry. It is very reassuring to see such a lively job market in today’s climate; a bearer of hope that we will soon be back to normality.
We are currently exploring new ideas for virtual events to bring to you this year and hope to deliver some exciting updates very soon.
Enjoy our pick of articles from the month!
2021 will be a decisive year for female empowerment in finance
Looking ahead to 2021, there is ample reason for optimism in the cause of female empowerment within the finance industry. Despite the enormous challenges of 2020, at 100 Women in Finance (100WF), a global organisation with almost 20,000 members across five continents, believe they are better positioned to make an impact on this vital issue going into 2021, their 20th anniversary year, than at any time before.
Pandemic highlights power of gender diversity to improve decision-making
The COVID-19 pandemic has been both an opportunity and a crisis for the world of finance and investment, testing decision-makers’ ability to navigate the fog of uncertainty. Minimizing risks has been the key to survival this year, putting a gender-diverse investment environment into the limelight, experts say.
As the tide went out earlier this year with the downturns accompanying the coronavirus pandemic, women-led funds were found to be less exposed to risks, faring better overall.
Why more women in top finance jobs will benefit everyone
Female executives — who were few and far between — were more inclined to answer the same question with holistic responses about safety, flexibility, diversity and inclusion, competitive pay and corporate social responsibility in the wider community. Areas that are all growing in importance for attracting the best people who, at the end of the day, will create future shareholder returns.
Investment giants demand more diversity on FTSE boards
Investment titans have vowed to vote out UK boards that fail to make progress on ethnic diversity after Black Lives Matter protests sparked “soul-searching” in the City.
BlackRock, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Federated Hermes plan to ramp up the pressure on firms in the coming year and vote to oust directors failing to back diversity in the wake of the global protests, The Telegraph can reveal.
The investment giants – which manage assets worth trillions of pounds – will respond to growing concerns of glacial progress on the issue in the Square Mile.
J.P. Morgan study analyzes impact of race and gender on women’s investment decisions
Racial and gender wealth gaps create an additional layer of complexity to investment decisions. The J.P. Morgan Wealth Management Women and Investing study reviewed the investing habits of affluent women in 2020 and took a deeper look to examine the factors that help Black and Latinx women build lasting wealth.