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There are far more men than women in the mortgage industry and just a handful of females in top positions. It is hard to pinpoint why, as some blame sexism but others claim there are no barriers
At Mortgage Strategy’s awards in February first-time attendees will have noticed that there were an awful lot of men. But for those who have been in the industry for years the fact that trousers vastly out-numbered skirts was barely commented on.
Statistics of the number of women in the broker industry are difficult to come by, with neither the Financial Services Authority nor the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries having any figures.
Individual registration should shed more light on numbers when it is introduced in 2012 or 2013, but AMI estimates that less than 10% of the industry are women.
At Essex-based Ingard, just 11% of brokers are female and Nikki Haworth, sales and marketing director of Ingard, believes this is typical across the industry.
“The mortgage market is definitely male dominated,” she says. “When I walk into an industry event men outnumber women 10 to one. It can be intimidating for women. There are few women in the top jobs in mortgage lending and distribution, and I can think of a number of influential names who have disappeared.”
As a whole the industry is male dominated but there is a particular dearth of females in senior positions.
The AMI board has 14 members only one of whom is female, Gemma Harle, managing director of TenetLime. But while Harle accepts there are far fewer women she does not see the disparity as necessarily a bad thing.
“I don’t think the mortgage industry discriminates against women,” she says. “As long as men and women are treated the same it should just be accepted. There have been changes in attitude and if there are flexible working hours to aid family life then that helps. However that is the same for men not just women.”
Another senior figure in the industry is Sally Laker, managing director of Mortgage Intelligence Holdings. She says while there are few senior women there are more than before.
“Going back 15 or 20 years there were few women in the industry,” she says. “But I don’t think there are any barriers to women succeeding. I am not sure why there are so few women.
“I think encouraging people at an early age into the profession is crucial. It is not something on the agenda for young people these days. More women are going into other financial services such as fund management but the mortgage market is not attracting them. There doesn’t seem to be the publicity of women in the mortgage market.”
Laker says there is a perception that the industry is boring which can be off-putting for new entrants.
“The industry is anything but dull because it is always chang-ing,” she says. “The market is unrecognisable from 10 years ago and it has changed massively in the past three years. It is intricately linked to the economy and people wrongly think it is not exciting.”
So why are there so few women in the mortgage market and is it worse than any other industries?
“I don’t believe the industry is gender-specific and if you are good you will get on,” says Robert Sinclair, director of AMI. “It is a demanding industry in terms of time and commitment and there could be an issue for those raising a family. But that is a societal issue as much as anything else.
“I don’t think that there is any sexism - actually it is quite the opposite. I have never seen any sexism in my time in the industry.”
There are some senior women at the Financial Services Authority, notably Lesley Titcomb, acting chief operating officer. And she handed over control of the Mortgage Market Review last year to Lynda Blackwell, mortgage policy manager, and Sheila Nicoll, director of conduct policy.
Also holding a senior role is Jackie Bennett, head of policy at the Council of Mortgage Lenders. She has also been linked with the top job since Michael Coogan, director-general of the CML, announced he was stepping down in August.
But the heads of intermediaries at the top five lenders - Barclays, Santander, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide and Royal Bank of Scotland - are all men.
Ana Patricia Botin, chief executive officer of Santander UK, is the only head of a major bank after she succeeded Antonio Horta-Osorio. There are only two female chief executives of building societies - Progressive and Stafford Railway - out of 49.
And just one woman applied to fill Andrew Sentance’s role at the Monetary Policy Committee despite encouragement from the Bank of England. There are no females among the nine members and Sentance’s replacement is another man, Goldman Sachs economist Ben Broadbent.
Andrea Rozario, director-general of Safe Home Income Plans, says more high profile women would help attract others.
“It is traditionally seen as a male career but we should probably do more to encourage more women into the industry,” she says. “Larger organisations and high profile companies tend to be run by men. There are not enough high profile females to encourage more into the industry.
“Whenever you attend an awards ceremony or industry event it is always clear that men dominate. I think it is changing but there are not enough women in top positions.”
But she says it is harder for women across all industries to reach boardroom level, not just in financial services, and this is mainly because women are more likely to raise a family.
“We were told that we could have it all but more and more women are thinking that to have it all they need to make sacrifices,” she says. “And some may well not be willing to do that.”
The issue of female representation at board level is not exclusive to the mortgage industry with just 12.5% on the boards of FTSE 100 companies, according to Lord Davies’ report, Women On Boards, released in February this year. The figure was up from 9.4% in 2004 but Lord Davies says the increase is too slow. The number of women on the boards of the FTSE 250 companies came in at a paltry 7.8% for 2010.
A pan-European study of women in boardrooms by AlphaValue shows that females account for an average of 13% in UK boardrooms. In the survey of almost 500 firms, the UK was slightly above the 12.5% average for European countries. Of the companies surveyed 132 had no female representation at boardroom level. Scandinavian nations came out top with women making up 39% of Norway’s boardrooms, 25% in Sweden and 23% in Finland. On the continent France is making it law that every board must be 40% female within the next six years.
Lord Davies’ report made no statutory obligation but recom-mended that all UK boards should have a 25% representation of women in the next few years and that firms should publish the gender make-up of their boards.
Angela Knight, chief executive of the British Bankers’ Asso-ciation, says senior women can provide a different perspective in businesses.
“I am not a believer that a promotion should be given because you are female, just as I don’t believe someone should be promoted because they are male,” she says. “Putting in place arrangements that on the one hand mean companies have got to seriously think about their policies on women at senior positions and on the other report on what they are doing about it, looks like a combination that is about right.
“I say no to tokenism and quotas. A ’Blair’s babes’ approach will only do harm. But a big yes to bringing on the right talent in all shapes and sizes - and that includes more women in the boardroom. This is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders too.”
A study of women in financial services by recruitment firm Odgers Berndtson published last month, Past Perspectives, Future Change: A Study Into The Experiences Of Senior Women In Financial Services, singled out the sector as being particularly bad for women.
In interviews with some 100 women in senior positions the report highlighted the difficulties of successful women.
“Financial services is more testosterone-driven than other sectors, making it more difficult for women,” one participant told the report. “Some women understand that culture, and can operate successfully within it, but most can’t.”
Another recalls how it is difficult to operate success-fully as a woman in finance without being regarded negatively.
“I have learnt to operate in a male-dominated environment,” she told researchers. “The difficulty is how to interact with men without being perceived as a bitch or a ball-breaker.”
Others hinted at an old boys’ network among board members which overlooks women for promotions in favour of their friends.
“As a woman within financial services, you need to accept that to get ahead you’ll have to work harder than your male counter-parts,” one woman told researchers. “There are a lot of mediocre men in financial services who got where they are through contacts. It’s not the same situation for women.”
In terms of outright sexism women in the mortgage industry have had different experiences. Some say there is a nastier side of the market with outright discrimination while others find the industry welcoming.
Harle says she has never experienced sexism but admits there are times when women can be excluded.
“The men do tend to stick together but I have never experienced any sexism,” she says. “Networking can be around things that are exclusively for men such as sport but I don’t think there is much discrimination against women.”
Haworth agrees that attitudes have improved recently but says it is still not good enough.
“I have had to work at least twice as hard as my male colleagues to get ahead and gain the respect of my peers,” she says. “Going into meetings with male colleagues and they assuming I was the secretary when I was heading the packaging business was frustrating but was typical behaviour a few years ago. Attitudes have improved but not enough.”
But Rozario does not believe the mortgage market is worse than any other industry and says she has never been treated differently.
And Laker actually praises the mortgage industry for being welcoming to women.
“I have never experienced any sexism in the mortgage market and have found it welcoming,” she says. “I’ve been in the industry for 30 years and I think knowledge and experience are respected, whether it is in a man or a woman. I am happy being a woman in the mortgage market.”
And the adviser profession seems to perfectly suit a woman juggling work and family life.
“On paper an adviser’s role would appear to be ideal for a woman with flexibility to work around family life but many women would have concerns about their safety visiting strangers out of the office environment,” says Haworth. “I think we need to improve the image of brokers and the industry as a whole with the help of AMI, the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders’ Association and the press.
“We need to highlight careers in financial services to young people still at college and sixth form. I’m sure mortgage broker or financial adviser are not highlighted by career advisers so aware-ness needs to be raised that these are professional and rewarding careers.”
Michelle Bridgman, psychotherapist on gender issues and a former mortgage broker, says it is perception rather than reality that deters women.
“When I was a broker there was nothing to stop women joining the industry as you are your own boss and it is helpful for raising children or planning a family,” she says. “There is a fair bit of male banter and it is certainly male-dominated but no more so than other industries.”
Haworth says there is a lack of new blood in general and that the average mortgage broker is a man in his 50s.
“While many clients may be more comfortable taking advice from someone of an older generation I’m sure there are many of the younger eneration who would respect the advice of someone the same age who is going through the same life experiences as them-selves,” she says.
If the industry is not attracting women then maybe being a broker is something that naturally attracts men.
Peter Gwilliam, owner of recruitment firm Vitrus Search, says the number of brokers is skewed towards men.
“It’s difficult to generalise but there is an element of what a broker does that has the same qualities as a male,” he says. “That includes being competitive and also the desire to hunt going back to the natural hunter-gatherer. Brokers have to hunt for new clients and business and they have to want to drive things forward and make things happen.”
Gwilliam adds that the large number of men could be due to the passing down of the family business from father to son.
“After the last three years the industry faces a big challenge to attract quality, whether that is male of female,” he says. “It has to do a better job of public relations and promoting what it does. The first thing we must realise is that there is an issue and then you decide to use positive discrimination or not.”
Research by Gwilliam found that 62.5% of underwriters are female but that female BDMs at Cheltenham & Gloucester and Scottish Widows totalled 38%.
“Underwriting is more female-orientated and there are a disprop-ortionate number of women underwriters,” he says. “There is a natural attention to detail and desire to get to the bottom of things by women.”
No-one seems to be able to put their finger on exactly why there are so few female mortgage brokers and particularly those in senior positions. There is also no consensus about the extent of sexism with some reporting bad experiences while others have positive ones.
All sectors have a duty to crack down on discrimination and strive to be more open and diverse and the mortgage market is no different. As a consumer-facing industry it would surely be better to be more reflective of its customers. And with women represented by a tiny minority of brokers it is not healthy for its image.
There is nothing wrong with the average broker being a 50 year old man but customers may look upon the industry more favourably if it was more reflective of society.
Old school brigade still exists
TRACEY COLE
OPERATIONS DIRECTOR (LEFT)
JULIE MURRAY
MARKETING DIRECTOR
STONEBRIDGE GROUP
Having been in the industry for some 23 years my view, unfortunately, is that men’s attitude towards woman in the financial services world hasn’t changed much and that you have to be strong to ensure you are heard, says Tracey Cole.
This is directed at men in high-level positions - the old school still exists and it doesn’t like change. I have lost count of the number of times during meetings with men when they only addressed the other men in the room, even if I was the senior attendee.
Working with Stonebridge however has proven that environments can be created where no age or sex discrimination exists, where you are treated as an equal and on your own merits. I certainly would not have stayed here if that was not the case.
We work just as hard as the men and workloads are the same regardless of the sex. I will say that in an industry dominated by men, a high-quality female employee is still able to stand out - perhaps even more so because of their rarity.
There is certainly a bond between other women in the industry and I would certainly want to champion other women wherever I could, and wherever it was merited. Financial services is changing slowly and I believe that newer, younger entrants will now find climbing the
corporate ladder a lot easier because of the work done by those who have gone before them. But there is still a long way to go.
The financial services industry is one that remains firmly in the dark ages, says Julie Murray. A number of the older generation of men, especially those from a corporate background, continue to behave as though women should be seen and not heard.
There are still many men who will naturally assume when meeting you that you hold down a support position and are not necessarily adept at hiding their surprise, and sometimes contempt, when you inform them otherwise. It is unfortunately a hard industry for women to advance in, especially within a corporate environment.
The glass ceiling still exists for women and many friends have been able to reach lower management positions but seem unable to progress further.
They have the capability and their desire to succeed is strong but it still appears to be very much a man’s world.
Getting rid of the dinosaur attitudes of some of the old school male brigade would help ensure that financial services becomes a much more attractive industry for women to enter.
Women don’t want to be brokers
MELANIE BIEN
DIRECTOR
PRIVATE FINANCE
Call me naïve, but when I started working in the mortgage industry seven years ago, it was a while before I realised how few women enjoy senior roles. There were plenty of women in the office so I assumed they were all broking mortgages. But after a few weeks I worked out that almost exclusively the women were support staff, working in administrative roles. Female mortgage brokers were few and far between.
Coming from a journalistic background where the number of women and men is fairly evenly balanced this came as a culture shock. In journalism, plenty of women are in editorial roles - I was a section editor. There are few women right at the top of the pile, editing the whole shebang, but in some notable cases they do make it.
Joining a mortgage brokerage, admittedly to do PRrather than write business, I thought women could progress as easily in this career as any other. I joined as an associate director and was promoted to director within a year, so assumed this would be the same for anyone reasonably ambitious, male or female.
Rather than there being a glass ceiling, it was apparent that women didn’t seem to want to be mortgage brokers as much as men, let alone take on senior roles.
I have come across a few female administrators who want to become brokers. But on the whole, most seem happy with their roles. And when the downturn came opportunities for progressing were curtailed anyway.
Female brokers may be thin on the ground but on the whole they tend to be far more impressive than their male counterparts. They have to be to progress in such a male-dominated industry. The most successful don’t tend to exploit their feminine wiles - they are almost interchangeable with men in attitude and appearance.
They blend in and concentrate on getting on with the job. If there is sexist banter, they let it wash over them. Why there are so few women in senior roles is a question I have pondered many times in the past few years. In many respects, it doesn’t make sense because women make excellent financial advisers. They tend to have more empathy than men, are more cautious when investing and often hold the purse strings in the household, so know about budgeting and making financial decisions. With more women buying property on their own, and favouring advice from a woman, why on earth aren’t there more giving mortgage advice?
There is the inevitable career break that gets in the way when women have children. Then there are childcare issues and wanting to be home for bedtime, rather than schmoozing in the bar with colleagues.
It is not so much lack of opportunity as lack of interest. Some women have the necessary desire to climb to the top of the greasy mortgage pole but most don’t.
Market does not do itself favours
NATALIE THOMAS
ONLINE EDITOR
MORTGAGE STRATEGY
After my first week at Mortgage Strategy it became apparent that the mortgage sector is very much a man’s world. Within one week of working at the magazine, after chatting to one mortgage contact over lunch I was asked if I wanted to go up to his hotel room and was given the impression this was the norm.
Over the next few years I learned that call girls and lap dancing bars were openly seen as acceptable corporate entertainment during the boom years, and still are by many.
Although this type of behaviour is not exclusive to the mortgage industry, it is hard to imagine how management can have a derogatory view of women on the one hand and still promote gender diversity in the boardroom.
I remember going to my first Mortgage Business Expo in 2004 and being told to watch out for the pole dancers who had featured at the event a year earlier. Luckily I missed them, but was instead greeted by scantily-clad women handing out flyers. Some lenders still think this is the best way to sell their mortgage products.
And in 2005 BM Solutions divided the market when it launched its sexy Red character online, a buxom red-head who guided brokers through the online application process. At the time female brokers complained of the lender alienating them, but few complaints were lodged from male brokers.
It is fair to say the industry does not do itself any favours in improving its appeal to women.
The market has tamed in recent years and naked female golf caddies are no longer being hired by firms to carry their golf clubs.
But even in recent times sexism in the market still appears to be alive and well among some. My experience as a journalist will be somewhat different to that of a woman working at a small brokerage or director working within the industry, but I would be surprised if others have not had similar experiences.
Only recently when out for a drink one contact felt he could tell me, while placing his hand on my knee, why all good women want to do is stay at home and have babies.
Of course it would be wrong to make a generalisation of the entire mortgage market, but it seems that if the sector wants to know why it is not attracting enough senior women into jobs, it just has to look at the way it portrays women.
However, while being a woman in an all male environment can be problematic, in some ways it can be advantageous.
Some of my male colleagues joke how certain people are more willing to speak to a female journalist and seem more trusting when divulging gossip.
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