To mark International Women’s Day(IWD) today, IFA Magazine sat down with Octopus Investments’ Kristy Barr, Head of Sales and Customer and Jess Franks, Head of Investment Products.
In this Q&A we discuss the topic of gender diversity in the finance industry. We’re grateful to Kristy and Jess for sharing not only some of their personal career experiences with us as leaders in the industry, but also why they feel that achieving diversity and inclusion more broadly is what really matters.
IFA Magazine: Early in your career, did either of you feel disadvantaged because of your gender?
Kristy – There wasn’t a financial services industry to speak of in my home of Perth, Western Australia. So, when I started working, I didn’t have a sense of what I should or shouldn’t be doing. I didn’t have friends’ parents in the industry telling me I couldn’t make it, or anything like that. I faced the same challenges as any other person starting their career, but I worked hard and eventually started making progress.
Jess – I went to a state school and was the first generation of my family to go to university. It wasn’t until I had that experience, where I met people with top grades from public schools, that I first realised I might be an underdog going into interviews at big firms. I soon learned that I had the ability to think for myself and that gave me an advantage in the workplace.
But gender wasn’t something I ever felt was holding me back. That’s why I’ve never done women in finance events.
IFA Magazine: Interesting, so I’m guessing you’re not a fan of the expression ‘women in finance’?
Jess – I think focusing just on gender can sometimes miss the point. Do you agree Kristy?
Kristy – I think it’s about diversity full stop. I’ve never considered gender a barrier. You’re just a person. Work hard and do a good job, if that’s not recognised then you’re in the wrong company.
Jess – I agree, it’s part of a wider issue of diversity. I want to work with people from backgrounds different to mine. If we all think the same way, how can we get to a well-kicked, well-tested decision? That for me is the reason why a business must encourage diversity.
IFA Magazine: With that in mind then, what do you think is the main issue when it comes to gender diversity in finance?
Kristy – In my view, the image many people have of the financial services industry isn’t as accurate as it once was. Here at Octopus Investments for example, the retail management team is fifty percent female. I’d hope that by demonstrating stats like this will help us to recruit more broadly and encourage greater engagement across the board.
Jess – I think the main reason that there are fewer women in senior positions in businesses – both finance and more generally – is because a lot opt out after having kids. My partner and I have always had an equal approach to parenting. Shared parental leave is a huge step in the right direction. Companies should encourage it and men should embrace the opportunity too.
IFA Magazine: Talking about broader issues, and I’m looking more at outside the financial services workplace this time. Do you think that women are generally well served by financial services?
Kristy – As society and thinking has evolved, women have become much more involved in financial decisions. More of the world’s wealth will be in female ownership than ever before. I think financial services, particularly financial advice, is still figuring that out and how best to meet the needs of women.
Jess – I’d agree and think that’s a really accurate picture. I can remember thinking, my dad probably doesn’t have a financial adviser, so why should I have one? But plenty of women now are in control of the finances in their home and would benefit from receiving financial advice. Women need to be included in this space and feel welcome, because the need for it is definitely there.
Kristy – Again it’s not just about gender, but all kinds of diversity need to be showcased for things to move forward. The public perception of financial advice doesn’t yet reflect the dynamic firms that exist, those that are talking about digital solutions and new opportunities. They’re definitely out there!
But if more firms across the industry can embrace an entrepreneurial culture and are ‘walking the walk’, we’ll hopefully see existing perceptions evolve into something closer to how things have moved on.
IFA Magazine: In your experience, does it seem as though women are being served well by financial advisers?
Jess – This is something which, at Octopus, we actually did some work on recently. It looked at how women are likely to emerge as the biggest beneficiaries in the ‘great wealth transfer’, with women living longer than men. As part of it, we conducted a survey which found that among inheriting respondents who said they wouldn’t use the same adviser as their family, women disproportionately said it was because they had another adviser they would use. This was cited by 40% of female spouses versus 29% of male spouses and by 42% of female beneficiaries, compared to 13% of male beneficiaries.
Despite these statistics, we found that only 5% of financial advisers had a dedicated strategy for advising and retaining women. So from the work we did it seems that there is more, perhaps, that advisers could do to not only better serve their women clients but to better retain them too.
Kristy Barr is Head of Sales and Customer, Octopus Investments
Kristy joined Octopus Investments as Head of Sales and Customer in September 2021. She joined from Abrdn, where she was responsible for the key strategic partners of Aberdeen Standard Investments and Standard Life. Kristy was previously Head of Institutional, Europe for BMO Global
Asset Management and spent 15 years in various sales and client management roles within hedge funds and real estate.
Jessica Franks is Head of Investments Products, Octopus Investments
Jessica heads up the team that manages all product offerings across the Octopus Investments business. This includes retail tax-efficient investments, including venture capital trusts and investments that qualify for Business Property Relief from inheritance tax as well as the funds on the institutional side of the business. She joined Octopus in 2014 and is a qualified tax adviser.
