More women found to be in leadership roles across London market

The representation of women in leadership roles across the London market has increased amid a rise in headcount over the last three years, the London Market Group (LMG) has revealed.

According to the association’s London Matters report, the insurance workforce increased by over 40% between 2021 and 2023.

In turn, the representation of women in leadership roles increased to 35%, with 25% of roles on boards being held by women – this is mainly driven through non-executive director positions.

The data also showed that women now hold 43.4% of roles across the London market, while men are in 53.8% of positions.

The gender pay gap, meanwhile, stood at 34% in 2023, three percentage points lower than 2021.

Warning

Meanwhile, LMG warned that while headcount has risen recently, there was as many people over 50 as under 30, with there being 24% in each age group.

“This compares unfavourably with the financial services average, which has 18% of the workforce over 50 and 23% under 30,” LMG said.

Caroline Wagstaff, chief executive of LMG, added: “The concentration of talent in the London market is one of its USPs. The intellectual capital and wealth of experience in risk mitigation and transfer amongst London market businesses means that London provides technical expertise and experience that it is hard to replicate anywhere else.

“If London is to remain the place where the world brings its risks, we need to take action at both a firm and market level to make specialty insurance a destination career for young people, delivering the diverse thinking that allows us to deliver solutions to current and future challenges.”