By Iain Withers

LONDON (Reuters) – Investment management firms in Britain hired more women in senior roles in 2023, although top-paid jobs remained dominated by men, research by The Investment Association (IA) showed.

Companies in Britain have broadly taken steps to improve the diversity of their workforces, partly as new regulations require disclosure of data such as gender pay gaps, which have shown finance to be one of the UK’s most unequal sectors.

Among new hires, 45% of executive leadership roles were filled by women last year, up from 39% in 2022, while in senior management women filled 42% of roles, up from 38%, the IA trade body said.

However, the proportion of women in their employers’ highest pay quartile remained at 25%, unchanged on the prior year. The gender pay gap was 23%, down one percentage point on the prior year.

Top female leaders in the industry include Amanda Blanc, chief executive of British insurer and asset manager Aviva, and Rachel Lord, London-based head of international at U.S. investment giant BlackRock.

The IA said the overall lack of women in top-paid roles partly reflected a lower proportion of women in the 50-64 age group, while the gender gap was also higher over the age of 35.

Citing feedback from members, the IA said several factors might explain the decline in female representation in those groups, with some women leaving the workforce early to care for children, ageing parents, or manage menopause symptoms.

The representation of women overall in the industry increased to 41%, up from 39%, although the report said this could partly reflect higher data disclosure rates. Men made up 53% of the workforce, while there was a 6% non-disclosure rate.

The research also found more investment firms were collecting diversity data, including on ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, socio-economic backgrounds and neuro-diversity.

Reflecting increased competitive pressures, the research also found 54% of the companies surveyed took steps to cut costs in 2023, with 37% laying off staff and 19% introducing recruitment freezes.

The IA surveyed 58 investment firms managing a total of around 6.5 trillion pounds ($8.2 trillion) of assets.

($1 = 0.7895 pounds)

(Reporting by Iain Withers; Editing by Sinead Cruise and Alexander Smith)