New website launches to boost female representation in finance

20 May 2025

Scottish Widows has partnered with professional networking group Her Wealth Network to launch a new website, in a bid to address gender equality in financial services.  

Herwealthnetwork.co.uk has been designed to help drive greater levels of female representation in financial services, and nurture talent with practical support, in-person engagement and online tools and resources.  

Scottish Widows has been shining a spotlighting on the specific financial challenges faced by women for over 20 years through its Women and Retirement Report, with its most recent report revealing that at the current slow rate of progress it will take at least another 20 years before women will retire with the same average pension pot as a man. 

Jill Henderson, Pensions Expert at Scottish Widows, said: "The current average gap in pension savings at retirement shows women trailing men by about £100K. There are a number of factors driving this – including the disparity in pay between men and women, and what is often called the ‘motherhood penalty’ where women have to take time out from their careers to raise children. 

“The gender pensions gap is just one of many examples of why it is crucial to have greater female representation in financial services, to help ensure advice is inclusive, relevant and accessible to everyone.

“Creating communities – both in person and online – where women can come together, share ideas and take forward activities which will help more females play a leading role in financial service decision making are essential, and we’re proud to support this partnership."

Her Wealth Network was founded in 2018 (originally as Women in Asset Servicing) by Kate Webber and has seen its membership grow by 200% in that time. With Scottish Widows announcing its sponsorship, plans are underway for a series of events in the second half of 2025 in London, Bristol and Luxembourg, along with a regular schedule of Her Wealth Network podcasts.

Her Wealth Network founder, Kate Webber, said: “Scottish Widows’ work on the gender pension gap is well established and the insights they have shared over the past 20 years from their reports have been groundbreaking for the industry’s understanding of how women’s lives shape their financial futures. We look forward to working with them on more events, podcasts, mentoring with our members and helping women be successful in their chosen careers in financial services.”

Download full press release (PDF, 151KB)

Notes

Methodology

The report forecasts that the gender pension gap could close in another 20 years if current progress continues, based on the ONS’s Wealth and Assets Survey data. The methodology, carried out by Frontier, calculates the average annual progress that has been made between 2008 and 2020 in the gender gap in private pension pots held by those aged 50-64, and then assumes this average annual progress continues from 2020 onwards. Full details can be found in the full Scottish Widows Women and Retirement Report.  

The consumer research total sample size was 3626 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken by YouGov on behalf of Scottish Widows between 23rd - 30th August 2024. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+). 

We use the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA)’s living standards as a measure. The PLSA defines a minimum retirement as someone living with no car, spending £50 per week on groceries and spending £20 for each birthday and Christmas present. The latest PLSA thresholds have increased from 8-34%.

About Scottish Widows

Founded in 1815, Scottish Widows is part of Lloyds Banking Group, the UK’s largest digital bank and financial services group. With more than £232bn assets under administration and over 10 million customers, Scottish Widows’ award‐winning product range includes workplace and individual pensions, annuities, life cover, critical illness and income protection, as well as savings and investment products.    

More than 2 million customers access Scottish Widows products and services through the Lloyds Bank and Scottish Widows apps, in addition to accessing directly through independent financial advisers. The Scottish Widows Platform is trusted by more than 18,000 advisers and 5,400 advice firms that manage the pensions and investments of almost 166,000 clients.