Gender pay gap narrows at PPF to 17.2%

Under legislation introduced by the government last year, companies employing more than 250 people are required to publish information about their gender pay and bonus gaps annually.

The PPF's mean pay gap is 23.67 per cent (24.97 per cent in 2017); the organisation’s median bonus gap is 30.55 per cent (24.11 per cent in 2017) and the mean bonus gap is 59.12 per cent (64.26 per cent in 2017). This is the PPF’s second year of reporting.

Katherine Easter, chief people officer at the PPF, commented: “While we are pleased to see some reduction in our gender pay gap, we are still a long way from where we want to be.

“Our gender pay gap is largely driven by the number of men in our investment team relative to women and the way specialist skills in that area are rewarded. The other main reason for the gap is that we don’t have enough women in senior roles. We’ve made progress on our target to have 40 per cent female senior leaders by 2021.” 

Andy McKinnon, Chief Financial Officer at the PPF added: “The current scale of the gender pay gap in financial services is a real issue. But while we can’t change the industry, we can be part of the solution. We are committed to tackling our gender pay gap because we believe it will improve our performance, as well as helping us to be an employer of choice.”

The PPF points out that it offers flexible working enhanced maternity pay and shared parental leave. The organisation has recently increased its focus on diversity and inclusion, devising a strategy which encompasses a number of initiatives across recruitment, culture and talent development.

Latest Office for National Statistics figures show that across the UK the median gender pay gap fell to 8.6% among full-time employees in 2018. The financial services industry has still a long way to go to catch up with the rest of Britain on equality.