Inclusivity opens doors for young women to work in high finance
As part of a series of features focussing on the winners of this year’s Scottish Financial Services Awards, Gareth Edwards looks at the work of Skills and Inclusion Award winners Future Asset.
An educational programme working to help empower young girls to pursue a career in the financial sector has been recognised at this year’s Scottish Financial Services awards, organised by Scottish Financial Enterprise.
Future Asset took home the award for Skills and Inclusion, for their work with schools across Scotland helping to give girls the skills, confidence and knowledge to thrive in financial services work.
It was established in 2017 by the financial education charity Didasko which also runs the Library of Mistakes , following the Empowering Productivity report which challenged firms to create better gender diversity and a more balanced workforce.
And today Future Asset is supported by major firms and organisations such as Baillie Gifford, Aberdeen, Franklin Templeton, RBC Brewin Dolphin, Walter Scott, Aegon Asset Management, CISI and others, all of whom have seen first hand the huge benefits of increasing gender equality in their industry.
Helen Bradley, who has led Future Asset since 2018, said: “We are supported by firms who recognise what the problem is and are really keen to make a difference. It’s a continuous work in progress, but I think it’s exciting how much can be done - we work closely with our partners and with our fantastic teachers, to make sure we are helping these girls learn the skills they need.
“Our job is to give girls the confidence to apply for finance jobs, particularly those from backgrounds where, whether because of geography or disadvantage, they have no real exposure to these industries.”
Their core activity is the annual Growing Future Asset Investment Competition, which has engaged more than 4,000 students since 2020, inspiring more young women to pursue careers in financial services while creating a stronger, more diverse talent pipeline for Scotland's industry.
The competition helps develop skills in dealing with financial reports, as well as giving the girls the confidence to pitch to investors and a far greater understanding of the way the financial world works.
And last year alone it helped over 900 13-18 year old girls across 100 schools in 27 Scottish local authority areas through their investment competition, where students research listed companies, analyse opportunities, and present their investment recommendations, developing technical understanding alongside confidence, teamwork, and communication skills.
“We are open to all schools, but we are keen to get into schools where kids are maybe further away from knowing about finance and investment management,” said Helen.
“We reach out every year to schools, we do direct work promoting the programme to schools, and the response is amazing.
“It is a ten week challenge so it is a big commitment from the teachers and from the girls. We recognise that, so we have funding to develop a project called ‘Investment Investigators', which is a computer game, essentially, which will be rolled out to S1 and S2 pupils, as well as a more complex version for older pupils, which challenges them to manage an imaginary portfolio. The idea is to make that free to all schools and all pupils and it might reach some of the students who for whatever reason aren’t able to take on the competition.”
The team also continues to work with young women beyond high school as they progress into apprenticeships, college, or university, promoting opportunities within financial services while strengthening industry insight, confidence, and essential skills.
And they prioritise those with the least access to finance-related networks and opportunities,
particularly students in less advantaged communities and across all parts of Scotland - not just the central belt.
The team were joined at the awards by Ailey Porter, one of their first competition winners, who initially signed up in the hope of getting a trip to Edinburgh and who has since gone on to study International Business and Spanish at Strathclyde University and is now working as a Client Reporting Analyst at Maven Capital.
She is one of the many students helped by FA who are now looking to help others, speaking at various Future Asset events and even taking her place as a judge in the competition that got her started in the industry.
“Ailey’s a fantastic young woman, and she’s a perfect example of how this support and encouragement can help,” said Helen.
“It’s clear how much of an impact the award has had for her, and she is incredibly supportive of our work.”
The award could not be more timely, coming on the same day Scottish Financial Enterprise published its Gender Equality report, praising the huge progress made in achieving a greater balance for women within Scotland’s financial sector as well as highlighting the work that still needed to be done in tackling issues such as unconscious bias and improving the gender pay gap.
And research from Scottish Financial Enterprise found that almost 60% of 16 to 24 year olds are unlikely to consider a career in financial services, while women remain significantly underrepresented across investment management, financial advice, and private equity.
Just 12.9% of UK fund managers are women. Future Asset tackles these barriers by demystifying the industry, challenging misconceptions, and empowering young women to believe in their potential.
The Future Asset team say they were surprised and delighted to pick up their award, and are hopeful it can help them encourage more firms to support their work
Jemma McLean, Communications Coordinator, Future Asset, said: “Just to be up there with firms like Barclay’s and Black Rock and Morgan Stanley [fellow nominees for the award] - to see ourselves there was really quite something and I never thought we would actually win.
“I was talking to a few of the judges at the awards and they were all really encouraging and telling us that they believed in what we were doing, and so to see that the industry is being supportive of us and to see the progress we have made was great. And it must have been encouraging for our partners as well.”
“We are a small team and we do everything from framing the certificates to travelling round the country setting up engagement events,” added Helen.
“It’s something of a labour of love as we really believe in what we are trying to achieve. So it meant a great deal to us to be recognised for that work. It’s really important, and we would also hope that the increase in our profile will help us secure some more funding for future projects.
“Our partners, and all of the firms we work with, they can all see the benefits to their industry, even if it does take time. Aside from that though, there are wider benefits - not all of the girls we work with will go on to a career in finance, but by taking part in our competition they all go away with a better understanding of how the world works, how finance works, and that matters a great deal, especially when you consider the fact that currently women are more likely to live in poverty in their old age.
“This is important education for these girls and it also teaches them to work as part of a team, to manage a project, to understand that often in life there’s no right or wrong answer and to realise that their opinion matters.”