"It is perfectly clear that the industry as a whole must do much more to tackle the recruitment issue."
Its survey found that 34% of advisers believe their firm must hire more women into both senior and junior level roles.
Industry data shows only around 11% of all advisers are women, highlighting the need to increase efforts to encourage women to enter the profession.
Openwork’s research among consumers shows 18% of women would definitely consider a career as a financial adviser and another 29% say they would consider a career in financial services depending on training support.
Openwork held its annual Women in Financial Services conference yesterday, driven by the goals and the needs of Openwork’s female network, the desire to find role models, engage with peers and learn from each other.
Claire Oldstein, chief marketing officer at Openwork, said: “Openwork is committed to increasing the number of women working in financial services and yesterday’s conference shows that there is a huge appetite among many women to pursue a career in financial advice. The entire event was shaped by the goals and the needs of Openwork’s female network, the desire to find role models, engage with peers and learn from each other.
“Recruiting more women is good for business as much as anything else but it is perfectly clear that the industry as a whole must do much more to tackle the recruitment issue.
“Our research shows that women are genuinely interested in pursuing a career in advice and advisers themselves would like to see female representation at their firms increase.”
