The Wealth Management Gap: Empowering women for financial independence
news published date 18 September 2025Last night the WIBF Thought Leadership team held an event on wealth management. Hosted by HSBC in London, we had almost 100 people attend. The evening began with a warm welcome from Nayan Singh, Chief of Staff to the HSBC UK CEO and ExCo sponsor of HSBC Balance.
Nayan spoke about the value of HSBC Balance – HSBC’s employee network focused on gender equity – which this year celebrates its 15th anniversary. He also proudly shared that HSBC Balance has been shortlisted for the 2025 WIBF Award for DEI Innovation (see the shortlist).
This set the tone for an evening that celebrated progress while acknowledging the ongoing challenges women face in building financial independence.
Following the welcome, Michelle Owen, Head of Distribution at HSBC Private Bank, introduced the panel – Oli O’Donoghue MBE, HSBC, Cecelia Russell, HSBC Private Bank and Ursula Danagher, Spencer West. Michelle shared a series of powerful data points. These highlighted both the progress women have made in wealth creation and the disparities that persist:
Positive Trends
McKinsey: Women already control one third of retail financial assets in the US and EU. By 2030, that is expected to rise to 40–45%.
Fidelity International: In 2024, 53% of women felt financially independent, compared with 45% in 2022.
Forbes: Female participation in investing has jumped from 48% in 2021 to 71% in 2024.
Ongoing Challenges
Schroders: 29% of women in the UK save less than £100 per month.
UK Government data: The gender pensions gap continues to limit women’s retirement security.
Fidelity: 23% of women take career breaks for childcare, compared with just 9% of men.
These statistics painted a picture of progress, but also of the structural barriers that still hinder women’s long-term financial equity.
The panel then opened up into a highly interactive conversation, where speakers shared wisdom, professional insight, and personal stories.
Some of the key takeaways included:
The importance of both partners in a relationship understanding their financial situation.
The role of financial education in building confidence and independence.
The need to understand your worth – seeking out pay transparency, benchmarking data, and advocating for fair compensation.
The discussion emphasised that empowerment comes not only from individual action but also from reshaping financial systems to better serve women.
Sarah Gresty wrapped up the session by highlighting WIBF’s upcoming events and ongoing work to support women in financial services (view events here).
