Advice network Openwork said advisers are calling for more women to join the industry, as it urged firms to do more to tackle the issue.
In its latest research, unveiled at its annual Women in Financial Services conference, more than a third (34%) of advisers said they believed their firm must hire more women in both senior and junior level roles.
Currently, only 11% of all advisers are female, which Openwork said highlighted the need to increase efforts to encourage women to enter the profession both in terms of training and development and improving the way in which the benefits of working in the advice industry are communicated.
According to Openwork, nearly one in five (18%) women said they would definitely consider a career as a financial adviser, while 29% said they would consider working in the financial services sector depending on training support.
Claire Oldstein, chief marketing officer, Openwork, said: “Recruiting more women is good for business as much as anything else but it is perfectly clear that the industry as a whole must do much more to tackle the recruitment issue.
“Our research shows that women are genuinely interested in pursuing a career in advice and advisers themselves would like to see female representation at their firms increase.”
Openwork has actively sought to increase its own quota of female advisers, with 38% of its recruits so far this year women and more than 620 now working for the organisation.
