AP Private | February 2024
One hundred and thirty-five are the years that, according to the latest edition of the Global Gender Gap Report drawn up by the World Economic Forum, still separate us from full equality between men and women. In the same report, Italy is 79th out of 146 states monitored in terms of equality in 2023.
Another study “Italy’s best employers for women 2024” published by La Repubblica and carried out with the German Quality Institute, based on interviews with employees of Italian companies aimed at measuring business culture, professional training, equal opportunities, sees the first bank in the ranking in 75th position.
There still seems to be a lot to do to achieve the fundamental goal of making companies a place where gender equality is practiced on a daily basis.
TIM Telecom Italia Mobile has launched an advertising campaign, online these days, with the highly evocative title “Equality cannot wait”; the subject is represented by a man and a woman locked in a labyrinth, the man manages to get out easily while the woman has to break a wall with difficulty.
It is a fact that the topic has become more topical and that awareness-raising initiatives have grown, even if there is still a long way to go.
Something is moving in the right direction, as also emerges from the point of view of the private banking professionals that FINER involves annually in the PB Explorer research.
Two very interesting data emerge from the latest edition. The first data concerns the presence in the bank of initiatives aimed at bridging gender disparities such as salary disparity, hourly flexibility, work-life balance, career prospects and growth in the company.
In 2022, 46% of the private bankers interviewed declared the presence in their bank of initiatives aimed at bridging the gender gap, in 2023 this percentage rose to 77% (+31%).
The second data concerns satisfaction, again from the point of view of private banking professionals, with the successful outcome of these initiatives: in 2022 27% of those interviewed declared themselves completely satisfied, in 2023 the percentage grew to 34% (+7%).
Significant differences are also noted depending on the banks in which private bankers work: in large universal banking groups, satisfaction with initiatives aimed at reducing the gender gap is greater than in smaller banks.
According to those interviewed, the initiatives are therefore growing to a greater extent than their effectiveness. This is undoubtedly a process that requires time and a change of culture that cannot be improvised overnight.
The signals coming from private banking professionals are however positive and demonstrate that the topic is on the agenda of banks and private networks.
To date, female private bankers employed by banks represent on average 27% of the universe of private bankers, a higher figure than that of financial consultants with an active mandate (20%) and decidedly lower than the 46% of banking colleagues dedicated to the affluent customer segment.
The theme of female inclusion in the Italian financial consultancy sector has accompanied some of the most important appointments of Banca Fideuram: a female area manager has been appointed for the first time, among the 38 top managers appointed 19 are women.
The die has been cast and we hope that professional women no longer have to be forced to be the best in order to have the right to be equal.
Nicola Ronchetti