Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at First Wealth

As a certified B-Corp we are committed to constantly improving our social and environmental impact. We have recently begun evaluating our approach to equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Our aim is to be a catalyst for positive change that sees Financial Services become a more diverse and all-round inclusive sector.

The lack of ethnic and gender diversity within the financial sector has been recognised as an industry-wide issue. The PRA, the FCA and the Bank of England recently released a joint Discussion Paper to initiate and drive change in this regard.

At First Wealth we are proud to be making these changes and are addressing the ways we can adapt across 3 main areas:

•       Environment
•       People
•       Culture

To guide this, we have started working with Are Consultants who are EDI specialists, working with organisations to improve EDI and create lasting and sustainable change across all aspects of their business. ‘There is so much people don’t know that they don’t know’ stated our Head of Marketing, Rebekah, during a meeting with Liz from ARE Consultants as they discussed the many groups of people that often feel discriminated against or marginalised and the ways this is often overlooked. Rebekah is keen to develop a marketing strategy that conveys both our culture and efforts to drive positive change. As well as marketing, we will also be examining how we can improve and make positive changes across hiring, talent development and our company internally, even looking at the causes we support.

Liz from ARE Consultants said, “We are delighted to be working with First Wealth, they are genuinely committed and ambitious about creating positive change as a company, for their people and the wider financial services industry.”

Here at First Wealth our company culture and ethos are extremely important to us, which is why we became a B-Corp, and we want every demographic to feel understood, seen and accepted.

We are proud to have already made considerable progress in some areas. Despite the female-to-male ratio of the population being almost 50/50, research in gender diversity in UK financial services, found that females made up just 17% of FCA-approved individuals (rising to 23% within larger firms).  At First Wealth we are pleased to be ahead of the industry norm, with 58% of employees identifying as male and 42% female.

Since becoming a B-Corp we have made considerable efforts to be as sustainable as possible through our work with companies such as Who Gives A Crap, The Social Supermarket and as part of our client referral scheme, we have planted 1,020 trees to offset CO2 emissions since January. This means we have offset 6,120 tonnes of CO2! We are also proud sponsors of The Verve Group and Women in Finance. We are very excited as we embark on this journey to being more equal, inclusive, diverse and further contributing to positive change.

This document is marketing material for a retail audience and does not constitute advice or recommendations. Past performance is not a guide to future performance and may not be repeated. The value of investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount originally invested.