PIMFA’s Women’s Symposium, held in London on 22 and 23 April, spotlighted actionable strategies to help shape the future of the industry across creating inclusive cultures, improving the customer journey, accessing new talent and the impact of the evolution of technology. The two-day event also offered delegates a personal perspective for development across the impact of life events and challenges such as childbirth and pregnancy loss, divorce and care giving. Speakers and attendees shared their personal and career journeys, with senior panels from across the industry and other inspirational speakers from other professions as well as insights into dealing with stress and fortifying wellbeing – both physically and mentally.
The event opened with a welcome address by PIMFA Chief Executive, Liz Field, who issued a rallying cry for business growth through greater inclusion: “to support women is to support business.” Her remarks set the tone for an event focused on providing an inclusive safe space that facilitated transformative thinking, shared accountability and meaningful connection and learning.
This was followed by a powerful keynote speech from Emma Reynolds MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury & City Minister who emphasised that removing barriers for women is both a moral and economic imperative. “At this pace, we won’t see gender parity until 2028 - we can’t afford to wait that long,” she warned.
The Minister also reiterated the pivotal role financial services plays in helping people achieve their financial goals and to the UK growth agenda and said, “we must unlock untapped potential and drive innovation across all sectors”. She emphasised that there is a challenge for all to get this right, and ensure consumer protection while driving growth, adding that it is a priority for her and the Chancellor to develop a framework around targeted support that works for firms and consumers alike to help close the advice gap and better serve our diverse society.
Growth of AI and company culture both key themes
AI was a major theme throughout, with keynote speaker Sneha Shah, EVP & Head of New Business Ventures at SEI, highlighting that “AI tools are saving professionals up to 18% of their time—though paradoxically, people often use that time to increase their workload and organisations embracing AI are 3.5 times more likely to experience revenue growth”. Elsewhere, speakers encouraged firms to approach AI with a ‘human-first’ mindset and stressed the importance of governance, challenging firms that haven't yet created an AI Governance Committee to consider why.
Development streams focused on personal development, company culture, investment topics and practice management - including living your values and being authentic, encouraging philanthropic investment, finance skills for children, 'a how to' workshop on presentation skills and understanding the emotions of retirement planning to better serve clients.
Progress made – but still work to do
The event highlighted both the progress made, and the work still needed for the road ahead in ensuring a more open and inclusive industry and to highlight the female perspective, which is important for both businesses themselves and to better serve clients. This was supported from research conducted ahead of the event with PIMFA’s DE&I Committee, which found that while some strides have been taken to address imbalance, systemic barriers such as limited diversity in the talent pool and inflexible work structures continue to slow progress. Committee members called for deeper industry engagement, suggesting that events like the Symposium are crucial for sparking the kinds of conversations and collaborations that lead to lasting change.
Liz Field, PIMFA Chief Executive said: “We are thrilled with the phenomenal feedback we had across the board and are proud to have created such a meaningful and insightful event. The balance of professional and personal is a unique approach we are proud of. The importance of highlighting issues that both women and men navigate throughout their lives is critical, and this was demonstrated by the growth in attendees we’ve had since the inaugural event last year and is also recognised in the association’s excellence award we recently received for this event – I’m already looking forward to our 2026 Symposium!”
Across all sessions, one message was clear: the industry must continue to evolve to secure its own future in a rapidly changing world. From the power of AI to the necessity of open conversations for everyone in business, the Symposium illuminated a range of tools and ideas that can be harnessed to create a financial services sector where everyone can thrive”.
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