The Openwork Partnership is renewing its drive to support women in financial services with the relaunch of its annual women in financial services conference.
Its third event under the theme of Inspiring Women in Financial Services will be held at The Grand Hotel in Birmingham on Friday September 17th aiming to build on the success of previous conferences in 2018 and 2019 which attracted record attendance from female advisers and financial services professionals.
Inspirational speakers at the event include entrepreneur, money coach and qualified financial planner Catherine Morgan, Paralympian, 7/7 survivor and author Martine Wright MBE, and comedian Cally Beaton.
Attendees from across The Openwork Partnership will hear from a range of panel Q&As and round tables as well as presentations on sales ideas and skills and have the chance to network with colleagues.
Charity The Openwork Foundation will be presenting at the conference highlighting The Openwork Partnership’s commitment to supporting vulnerable people in communities in the UK and overseas.
Claire Limon, Network Director, at The Openwork Partnership said: “It will be great to get back to face-to-face meetings and a real pleasure that we can start the Women in Financial Services conferences again after such success with the first two.
“As the conference title says the aim is to inspire women and provide role models as we build on the company’s commitment to support women in financial services and close the female financial adviser gap.”
Sonia Wheeler, Managing Director, Essential Wealth Management, said: “I am thrilled that the event is taking place this year, given the experiences and positivity from the previous events. The agenda and speakers have been carefully considered to inspire and engage. The Partnership is passionate about encouraging women to pursue careers in our profession and I am delighted to be part of it.“
Sarah Hogan, Chartered Financial Planner, KBA Financial said: “I am so excited that we are able to return to holding this conference in person this year. Sonia and I have worked alongside Openwork from the beginning to bring three years of this conference to the female population of The Openwork Partnership, whether advisers or support staff and it was sorely missed last year. The event is a chance to network, learn, grow, be inspired from people both within the industry and externally to try and encourage more women into the most fantastic profession which we all love.”
The Openwork Partnership has made major strides in increasing numbers of female financial advisers with more than 30% of all advisers across the network and up to 40% of trainees in The Openwork Academy. Around 45% of advisers at specialist protection business Owl Financial are women and 56% of new joiners in the first half of the year are female.
It’s part of the ongoing investment in the career fulfilment and wellbeing of all staff which has seen The Openwork Partnership rated one of the UK’s best places to work for three years in a row.
The Openwork Partnership has more than 4,300 financial advisers across the UK and operates as a directly authorised, multi-panel distribution network. Its new website includes an interactive map enabling more clients to access support from the network.
