abrdn achieves its second highest score in Bloomberg’s Gender Equality Index

For the fifth consecutive year, we have secured a place in Bloomberg’s global gender equality index, this year with our second highest ranking to date

abrdn has successfully placed on the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index (GEI) for the fifth year in a row, achieving our second highest rating of 77.5% - up from 73.1% last year.

The higher ranking is a result of our particularly strong performance in driving an inclusive culture – through initiatives like equal parent leave and inclusive healthcare provision – and efforts to be transparent about actions and commitments to both reducing and communicating the gender pay gap - disclosing this openly as part of the GEI.

The Bloomberg Gender Equality Index is collated using the Bloomberg Gender Reporting Framework is a modified market capitalisation-weighted index developed to gauge the performance of public companies dedicated to reporting gender-related data. This reference index measures gender equality across five pillars: leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and external brand.

To achieve a score, companies must answer 70 questions relating to a range of issues across the gender diversity gamut. The score is a reflection of a company’s level of disclosure and data performance – the average overall score is 73%. There are 484 companies headquartered in 45 countries, across 11 sectors and 54 industries included in the index. Our GEI score is also higher than the average for British companies listed in the index (73%) and other financial companies listed (74%).

Importantly, while the index highlights areas of strength in a company’s gender diversity, it also reveals areas for improvement. We are proud of the progress that we have made to improve gender diversity and equality across our business, but understand that there is more work to be done.

In our industry, boards, executive teams and the wider talent pipeline are not yet fully representative of the society we live in. We have witnessed this within our own organisation, too, and remain focused on addressing this as part of our gender action plan. We also recognise that while there is progress to reduce our gender pay gaps, we know progress is slow and these gaps are still much higher than we want them to be.

We’re addressing our areas for improvement though our gender action plan, by setting targets, and through our pledge to the HMT Women in Finance Charter, demonstrating our commitment to supporting and promoting female colleagues at abrdn and in the wider industry.

Heather Inglis, our Global Head of DEI, said: “The importance of diversity, equity and inclusion to our clients, colleagues and communities is only increasing, and we’re pleased to be able to share our progress in a transparent way which is accessible to investors and analysts."

Our Chief People Officer, Tracey Hahn, commented: “I’m absolutely delighted that the hard work of our colleagues has been recognised. Across the business, teams are embedding gender diversity, equity and inclusion into our culture, policies and approach. We know we have more to do on this journey, but we’re making progress every day. Our thanks and credit must go to the teams across abrdn, who have worked so hard to create a culture of inclusion that we can rightly be proud of.”