'I stood out like a sore thumb': What's changed for women in platforms?
FTAdviser speaks to six women about their journey into the platform industry, tracing back to the beginning of their careers to see what's changed over the past two decades.
Farzana Khalil, chief customer officer at Seccl
Khalil began her financial services career 16 years ago, in 2007. She used to sit on the adviser side of the fence, before joining the provider industry in 2011. Before Seccl, she worked for Multrees - initially on a consultancy basis before becoming a full-time employee.
When Khalil started out in the industry, she said she stood out.
“I was not only female, but I used to be a female that wore a headscarf within the sector. So I was ticking the gender diversity box, but also the religious diversity box. Hence why I stood out a bit like a sore thumb,” Khalil recalled.
I made sure I was engaging. My name isn’t common or easy to pronounce. They remembered me as an individual.Farzana Khalil, Seccl
“It’s fair to say I didn’t feel like I fit in when I first started in the space. But I think a lot of that spoke to my background, being muslim-Pakistani.
“I couldn’t see myself represented within the industry. There were definitely moments where I felt like I was intruding on a big boys club.”
As time went on, Khalil found she was treated with more softness.
“I made sure I was engaging. My name isn’t common or easy to pronounce. They remembered me as an individual,” she said.
Khalil recalled a board meeting she sat in where the chair asked the question ‘should we be doing more around diversity at a board level?’, to which someone responded ‘well we mirror our clients, so we’re ok’.
“As a woman in the room, that was disheartening to hear,” said the Seccl head.
But Khalil feels the industry has evolved, with events seeming a lot more diverse than they once were.
At Seccl, the chief executive level is 50/50 male and female split.
Over time, Khalil wants to see more than just gender diversity represented at the top of companies, willing for more diversity in sexuality, religion, and race to also appear at the top level.
Rachel Robertson, chief compliance and risk officer at Multrees
Robertson joined Multrees six and a half years ago, in 2012. Having started out as an auditor, she moved to the platform side of the industry while working at Multrees.
Multrees has only existed as long as Robertson has been in the industry. Founded in 2011, the platform provider took its first assets in 2012.
“This industry hasn’t been through that age-out process yet. The people that started platform industries are still very much in it, so we haven’t seen a natural progression of them coming out of the industry,” Robertson observed.
Working for a man that has worked for a woman is extremely helpful.Rachel Robertson, Multrees
“I haven’t seen a significant shift in generational grouping. Seccl is setting up with a younger generation, but it still harbours an old generation at heart. Until we start to move through this, we won’t see the progress we want to see.”
What’s important, in Robertson’s eyes, is that there are men in the industry who have worked with and under women.
“Working for a man that has worked for a woman is extremely helpful,” she explained.
“When I started I didn’t have a child. It’s much harder now, having had a kid three years ago, to say yes when you have childcare responsibilities.”
In the platform market, there is often an expectation that you have got to be alive with the market.
“It can culture a strict way of working,” said Robertson.
“With caregiver responsibilities falling on women, you just need to build flexibility into ways of working. We have two to three staff who just work core school hours.”
In Robertson’s eyes, a woman getting promoted to the executive level has a huge impact. “For my generation [Robertson is a millennial], the pay gap is tiny, well under 5 per cent,” she explained.
“But it grows bigger as you grow older.”
Amira Norris, head of sales at Novia
Norris got her first job at 16, back in 1995, with Maureen Watson - an independent financial adviser who owned her own business.
She then went on to be a paraplanner before training to be an IFA herself. It was in 2017 that she moved to platforms, joining Nucleus before moving to Novia.
At just 16, Norris counted herself lucky to have an exemplary role model like Watson.
“She taught me the solid foundations of straightforward, honest advice and exceptional customer service.” she recalled.
“She was a fantastic mentor and role model, and instilled my passion for this profession, which remains with me to this day. I was incredibly lucky to have that so early in my working life.”
Norris dubbed the early 2000s which followed a time of great progress for working women.
“It was the age of girl power and strong women on TV like Scully from the X Files.”
But in work, Norris said it was still very hierarchical.
It’s still a predominantly white, middle class university educated stereotype as a profession.Amira Norris, Novia
“As I started to work for larger companies, I noticed a distinct lack of women outside of the administrative pool and senior roles, but over time that really changed,” she explained.
“We had great social moments, like Clara Furse becoming the first female chief executive of the London Stock Exchange in 2001, and Ellen Macarthur in 2005 becoming the fastest person to sail single-handed around the world at 28 years old.
“Over time, I had more and more women in our profession to aspire to and look up to and fantastic male mentors and sponsors who opened career doors for me.”
Norris has more recently founded an organisation with her wife which specialises in helping workplaces better carve out support for colleagues to be good mentors.
“The financial services space still has a lot of work to do to fully embrace equity,” said Norris.
“There’s still a broken ladder of women who enter the profession and struggle to progress and unfortunately leave.
“It’s still a predominantly white, middle class university educated stereotype as a profession. So for me, it's great to look back and see how far we’ve come whilst also looking ahead and seeing the journey still to go and what part I can play in changing that.”
Tessa Lee, managing director of Moneyinfo
Lee started her career straight out of university at the age of 23. Her first jobs were in adviser administration, before she moved to 1st Software where she managed a team of business analysts. It was in 2010 that she began adviser software provider Moneyinfo.
When 1st Software sold, Lee took her share options and used the capital to set up her own business. She has since grown Moneyinfo to cater for more than 180 IFA clients.
“I want to pass on what I had,” said Lee, who has promoted a handful of women into top positions at her company.
“I had supportive bosses throughout my career.”
You walk into an event today, and there’s 20 to 25 per cent women, versus just one person not in a grey suit.Tessa Lee, Moneyinfo
One thing Lee has noticed is that there are still very few female developers. “There’s no physical reason why there aren't any, it’s like financial advice.”
The tech boss feels there are still certainly misconceptions around women in tech.
She was once on a call with a supplier, where the chair of the firm on the call assumed she was the project manager rather than the managing director.
“I laughed it off, but looking back at these experiences makes me realise the bias I have faced without even knowing it.”
Now, she feels like there is positive change afoot. “You walk into an event today, and there’s 20 to 25 per cent women, versus just one person not in a grey suit.”
Emma Napier, head of proposition at Bravura Solutions
Napier joined the platform industry back in 1988, starting out at Crusader Insurance. After that, she spent more than 10 years at a City IFA, before spending more recent stints at Platforum and True Potential.
“Women in senior roles were non-existent in my experience at the time,” said Napier.
During her adviser days, Napier said her good friend Michelle Cracknell was the first person to buck the trend.
There were no women networking groups and no real communities even promoting women.Emma Napier, Bravura
Cracknell is currently chief executive of The Pensions Advisory Service, but used to work at the same advice firm as Napier, Advisory & Brokerage Service Ltd.
“There were no women networking groups and no real communities even promoting women,” Napier recalled.
“Things are different now and there are a lot more women in financial services, but that said there's a long way to go. There are networking groups, mentoring, and corporate promises.
“But reality is, it's a big gap to close.
“Our mission is to grow figureheads by giving that autonomy for change management as an industry. People like Chanelle Pattison for example are living proof of that.”
Pattison is a twenty-something financial planner who has been growing a following on Instagram, alongside a podcast focusing on women in the sector which is sponsored by JPMorgan.