Overview
Since Oliver Wyman launched its third Women in Financial Services report in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has created significant threats for gender balance as well as some silver linings in the longer term.
Reflecting on this year’s International Women’s Day theme of Choose to Challenge, Oliver Wyman and Marsh & Mclennan Group hosted a panel discussion on how COVID-19 has impacted women in the industry, across financial services and non-financial services institutions. We brought together some of the industry’s leading executives and directors who are steering businesses out of this crisis and see inclusion and diversity as a core part of this journey:
- Karen Chester – Deputy Chair & Commissioner, ASIC
- Tennealle O’Shannessy - Chief Executive Officer, Adore Beauty
- Patricia Cross - Chair of CSC and Aviva, Founder of 30% Club Australia
- David Gonski – Former Chairman of ANZ Banking Group
- Terry Stone – Managing Partner, Americas, Oliver Wyman
The event builded on the insights from our last year’s Women in Financial Services report and this year’s Women in Leadership report. With our panel, we will choose to challenge the hidden barriers and structural challenges of women as leaders, employees and customers, exploring the impact of COVID-19 on gender balance in the near term and longer term, and bringing forward a fresh agenda for positive change.
Discussion Points
- Progress has been made on gender balance in leadership roles, however 20% representation of women on executive committees and 23% on boards is still far from enough
- Women in the middle of the pyramid are likely to be particularly disadvantaged, more so after the pandemic
- Designing for women is a $700bn opportunity, female customers are more likely to be vulnerable and demand simplicity now more than ever
- Our economic, political, and commercial systems are tailored to the needs of men as a default
Speakers
Karen Chester commenced as an ASIC Deputy Chair on 29 January 2019. Before joining ASIC, Karen was a Commissioner at the Productivity Commission since 2013 and Deputy Chair since May 2016. Previously, Karen was a Partner at Mercer and Global Head of Infrastructure. Before joining Mercer, Karen was a Partner at Access Capital Advisers and the CEO of Access Economics. Karen has held directorships on several Australian infrastructure company boards. Before moving to the private sector, Karen held senior economic policy roles in the Australian Treasury and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Karen has a first class honours degree in Economics from the University of Queensland and was awarded an honorary doctorate in Economics by the University in 2017. She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
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David is Chancellor of the University of New South Wales, President of the Art Gallery of NSW Trust, Non-Executive Chairman of Barrenjoey Capital Partners Group Holdings Pty Limited, and Chairman of the UNSW Foundation Ltd. He is a Director of Sydney Airport Limited board, a member of the board of the Lowy Institute for International Policy, a non-executive Member of LeapFrog Investment’s Global Leadership Council, a Patron of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation and Raise Foundation and a Founding Panel Member of Adara Partners. He was previously Chairman of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, Chair of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools for the Commonwealth Government of Australia. He was also a member of the Takeovers Panel, the ASIC External Advisory Panel and Director of Singapore Airlines Limited, the Westfield Group and Singapore Telecommunications Limited, Chairman of Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd, the Australian Securities Exchange Ltd, the Sydney Theatre Company, the Guardians of the Future Fund, the Australia Council for the Arts, the Board of Trustees of Sydney Grammar School and Investec Bank (Australia) Ltd.
