PensionBee partners with FinTech for All

Leading online pension provider, PensionBee, has signed the FinTech for All Charter, an industry-led initiative to promote diversity within the FinTech sector.

Signatories commit to a five-point Charter, which includes having one member of the senior executive team accountable for diversity and inclusion and providing a range of appropriate reporting channels to help employees speak up.

Recent PensionBee data highlights its strong diversity, with more than half of its employees identifying as female, compared to 43% in UK financial services (1). 16% of PensionBee employees identify as LGBTQA+, compared to 3% across the UK. Almost 40% self-identify their racial or ethnic background as Asian/Asian British; Black, African, Caribbean, or Black British; Mixed, multiple or other ethnic groups, compared to 14% across the UK. There is diversity at every level of seniority.

As a member of the Women in Finance Charter, which seeks to see gender balance at all levels across financial services firms, PensionBee regularly reports publicly on female representation. It also recognises non-binary identities and has incorporated this into its regular measurement of and action on diversity and inclusion.

PensionBee is an advocate for regular measurement and evidence-based action planning to increase inclusiveness and representation across financial services. The UK financial services industry is highly concentrated in London, the most ethnically diverse region in England and Wales, where just over 40% of residents self-identify as Black and minority ethnicity. Yet research by Ranstead, a recruitment agency, found that this group holds fewer than 1 in 10 management jobs in the industry (2).

Additionally, 84% of FinTech sector employees report being harassed more than once, and the vast majority of workplace harassment is gender-based (3). Data provider InChorus founded FinTech for All to end harassment and promote diversity in the sector through action planning based on the regular measurement of employee experience.

PensionBee conducts at least two surveys a year to measure levels of representation and to gather actionable feedback and ideas on enhancing inclusive practices. Additionally, employees have multiple channels through which they can share their thoughts at any time, including anonymously. This feedback is constantly monitored by PensionBee’s Talent team and Chief Executive Officer, Romi Savova.

In 2020 PensionBee organised many cultural initiatives, led by various colleagues, which encouraged dialogue. These included an LGBTQA+ bar where people shared personal stories, and a series on the history of anti-racism, which included talks on themes such as colonialism and homophobia in Jamaica, anti-racism in Britain, and contemporary racism in Latin America.

Speakers ranged from colleagues who’ve recently started their careers and are in their late teens and early 20s, to those who have been working for many years, many of whom were brave enough to share their personal experiences of racism. Recent feedback revealed that such initiatives, which create spaces to challenge stereotypes and connect with lived experiences, are popular methods of increasing a sense of belonging at work. A new programme has begun this year.

Priyal Kanabar, Customer Insights Manager and Diversity Champion at PensionBee, commented: “PensionBee is a very special place to work because of our rich culture, which grows from people with different backgrounds and experiences bringing all of themselves into our community. Our diversity helps us relate better to our customers, and make better decisions, whilst feeling a sense of belonging and connection with our workplace. We are delighted to sign the FinTech for All Charter. There is no place for harassment in FinTech, and businesses will suffer if they don’t do the work to make their cultures safe and inclusive for all people.”

Rosie Turner, Co-CEO, at InChorus/FinTech for All added: “We’re thrilled to welcome PensionBee as our latest signatory of the FinTech for All Charter. Our signatories demonstrate a commitment to building more inclusive cultures and to taking a data-led approach to improving inclusion & diversity. We look forward to working with PensionBee and our other signatories to support this crucial work in 2021 and beyond, as we strive to build a more representative FinTech sector.”

Appendix

Table 1: Gender at PensionBee

i. Female representation report for the Women in Finance Charter

	PensionBee Q4 2020
Female	51%
Male	49%

Source: PensionBee, February 2021. Based on 150 employees.

ii. Diversity & Inclusion Survey

	PensionBee Q4 2020
Female and minority genders	53%
Male	38%
No response or Rather not say	9%

Source: PensionBee, February 2021. Voluntary survey, with 127 respondents. “No response or Rather not say” includes employees that did not complete the survey. The total sample size of this analysis is 150.

Table 2: Sexual Orientation

	PensionBee Q4 2020	UK^
Heterosexual (straight)	74%	95%
Minority Sexualities (LGBTQA+)	16%	3%
No response or rather not say	10%	3%

Source: PensionBee, February 2021. Voluntary survey, with 127 respondents. “No response or Rather not say” includes employees that did not complete the survey. The total sample size of this analysis is 150. ^UK data taken from the ONS Annual Population Survey 2018. Numbers have been rounded.

Table 3: Racial or ethnic background

	PensionBee Q4 2020	UK^
Asian or Asian British	9%	8%
Black, African, Caribbean, or Black British	13%	3%
Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	13%	2%
White	54%	86%
Other ethnic groups	1%	1%
No response or Rather not say	11%	0%

Source: PensionBee, February 2021. Voluntary survey, with 127 respondents. “No response or Rather not say” includes employees that did not complete the survey. The total sample size of this analysis is 150. ^Data taken from the 2011 census. Numbers have been rounded.

Footnotes

1. Taken from Office of National Statistics Employment by Industry dataset, (released 23 February 2021)
2. FCA