At Path we think that women need to talk about money

Women & Finance

At Path we think that women need to talk about money

By not talking about money and by not asking the right questions about what our money is doing we are inadvertently giving up control.

This can affect women in all sorts of ways and at every stage of their life journey – from being poorer at retirement or after another significant life event such as having children, splitting up with their partner or leaving their job.

We believe that money is one of the last big taboos still facing women. But us not speaking about it is not making the problem go away – and in fact in many cases it is just storing up problems for the future – both our own and the planet’s.

At Path, we know that women are twice as likely to want to invest their money in line with their values.

Yet paradoxically, at the same time women are giving up their ability to do more of what they want to in the future by not giving the financial aspects of their lives as much attention as they could – either as a deliberate choice – or more often, even without realising it.

Not actively taking an interest also means that many women (and men!) don’t know that their investments are propping up industries that are damaging the planet.

We’re on a mission to start the conversation by actively talking to more women about their finances. From discussing ceding control to seeding change – we want to engage women in discussions that allow them to regain or retain financial choice, freedom, power and purpose.

Because purpose is one of Path’s key missions – we help people to align their money with their values.

At Path more than 50% of our customers and 30% of our adviser qualified staff are women. As well as shaping the general conversation of women and finance, we are also committed to changing the landscape for women in the financial industry – supporting and encouraging the best female talent in the industry to gain recognition and career success.

We are passionate about empowering women in regards to their finances and their choices about where their money goes and what impact it can have. That’s why you’ll see us at events such as the Women of the World festival talking about money and asking more women to start a conversation with us – but also with their female friends – about their finances.

Will you join us?

Investing for gender balance & diversity

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Path Women – Our thoughts & journey within finance

Rowan Harding, Financial Adviser

I have always loved numbers from an early age, and at one point during my school years, thought I might want to have a career as an accountant. However, after leaving education I got a temporary job in the financial industry and my passion grew from there. I realised quickly that pensions are really interesting, (not to everyone!) and started taking exams to support my career.
Over the years I have spent half my time in a management role and the other half in support or advisory roles. As I read more and more, worked for different organisations and gained lots of experience, I could identify the gaps on how the financial industry fails women and lacks focus on sustainability. It was also tough to feel completely comfortable with the options available for investing, when it didn’t match my own personal values. I vowed that I want to help as many women as possible with financial advice, and particularly saving for their future retirement.
After reading an article in the Financial Times, I found Path, and was so heartened to find someone who sees financial services like me, and knows there is another way, a much better, sustainable, ethical, equal, fair, open and honest way. I jumped at the chance to join and am loving this opportunity to be part of something much bigger and most importantly to know that we are genuinely making a huge difference!
Victoria Redsell, Paraplanner

I grew up in a large family and seeing the world from other people’s perspective and understanding that there are a lot of levers to pull, and the order in which you pull them can lead to harmony or chaos has led me the world of Financial Planning. Having studied Business Management at university with foundations in Law, Accountancy, HR, Marketing and Management, my professional life has been a mix of Business Development, Marketing, PR and Finance. Family has always come first for me, and the example that I set to my children in terms of what a woman is and how they should be treated, has at times forced me to make some tough decisions at work and at home.
Like our carbon footprint, we have a moral and ethical responsibility for future generations.
Working for Path is another step on that journey; the choices we make in how we invest our time and energy are like pebbles in a pond, which ripple out and touch not just those closest to us but the wider world.
Working with our clients at Path, listening closely, recognising what’s important and dissecting a situation to put it back together piece by piece in a joined up and well-thought-out plan is so fulfilling. There’s an ‘ahhhhhh’ moment at the end of a cashflow meeting, when you can see a client physically relax as their comfortable retirement is mapped out in front of them and we have shown them how their money can work for them.
Every day we are making a difference to people’s lives, and not just our clients but the lives of millions with our Positive Impact Investment approach – work has never felt so good!
Carla Gerlach, Operations Business Manager

I’m relatively new to the Financial Industry, having returned to the UK following 16 years of living & working in Portugal. The draw for me was most definitely the innovative, inclusive and thought-provoking approach that the Path offered, which lead me to apply to join. One of the motivators for me in leaving Portugal was searching for the opportunity to find a career that felt more meaningful and had a ‘greater good impact’ – which to be fair was hard to find outside of unpaid volunteer work in the Algarve. I confess, I’m both surprised and delighted that this ended up being in the financial sector!
I had some previous work experience in my early career as a Client Account Manager for a membership services company working with financial institutions – all of which was very male dominated and shaped. What I love about Path is that it is leading the way in ‘disrupting the norms’ of the financial world – both in terms of the positive impact we can have by engaging in the discussions and taking action about where our money is invested in order to help planet & people, but also with regards to empowering women. Path supports women’s journey both within the business – understanding, developing and providing an environment to ensure that women help shape the business and also in terms of clients, by empowering women to align their values with their financial journey and future goals.
Casey Goodwin, Head of Client Onboarding

I never had plans to work in finance – for years throughout high school, I wanted to be a meteorologist. At 16, when selecting my A-Levels, my maths teacher informed me that, really, my grades at GSCE in Maths and Physics should be considered a fluke, and I should consider ‘more creative endeavours’.
Off I went to university and earned a degree in English and Creative Writing, subsequently finding that writing the next best-selling novel and gaining financial independence was not, disappointingly, going to happen in the last 6 months of my student days.
Needing a job, I started out my career in Insurance & Protection, helping clients complete medical questionnaires and compliance submissions, and I turned out to have an excellent knack for analysis, compliance and anything requiring a militant attention to detail. This soon progressed into Paraplanning and I began steadily taking my level 4 exams whilst learning on the job, before qualifying in 2020. At previous companies, very often I was the only female within the wealth management team, and often the only woman present during meetings with investment managers and providers. Representation in the industry is still regrettably sparse.
Most people think being an effective Financial Planner is about being good at maths – it’s not (although maths is certainly involved!). Financial Planning is much more about listening, creative thinking, understanding what is important to a client and figuring out the best method of achieving this in a world with complex legislation, products, and taxes – like putting together a jigsaw puzzle but with pensions and investments as your edge bits.
I grew up working class in a single parent family, and we struggled with money. This has been a valuable experience, not only for me personally, but in understanding the importance of financial security that our clients wish to achieve and the drive to invest in things that matter to them.
Working at Path is much more than becoming a successful financial professional – it’s a chance to change the industry for the better, for the planet, for people and for women pursuing a career in finance.
If only my maths teacher could see me now!
Julie Hope, Operations Manager

I stumbled into the Financial Services industry by default as the town I was living in had two large financial institutions that everyone and their dog seemed to work at – NPI and AXA. I started working at NPI and at my youthful age, I did not even know what a pension was, so it was a steep learning curve but one I absolutely loved. I had the opportunity to sit for my Financial Planning exams and this really whetted my appetite to learn more about the industry. I love the complexity, the never-ending legislation changes and primarily, I love to help clients achieve their financial goals. I could not get enough of it.
Move forward 15 or so years and after a break from the industry to raise my children, I needed to get back to what I love. I found the Path and was surprised and delighted to find a company whose whole ethos was completely different to the previous companies I had worked for. Not only do they offer solutions to make a positive impact to the world but their whole attitude towards inclusivity, equality and diversity was something vastly different and something exceedingly rare in the financial services industry where it is predominately ‘male led’ and women really did not have a voice. We have lots of female clients and this is great to see as it slowly means the tide is turning and financial advice is now seriously considered by women. Women are the force behind many relationships – we are mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, businesspeople, homeowners, counsellors, cleaners the list goes on and finding a company who we trust with our finances is crucial to ensure we achieve our goals and dreams.

During our attendance at the Women of the World Festival, London, we had the pleasure of having the visual minute artist, Julia Miranda capture some of the thoughts, concerns and feelings of women regarding their relationship with money.

Many spoke to Julia or the Path women on our stand, others attended and participated in the Money & Me finance panel discussion hosted by Jude Kelly, and others simply noted down their pledges to themselves, the planet and future generations on our UN SDG tree’s seed paper leaves. This beautiful piece of artwork encapsulates the different journeys that many women go on with their finances and the factors that they have to consider along the way. It’s a conversation we are proud to have started and look forward to continuing.

Women in Finance Charter

Path is proud to have signed HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter. We are committed to working alongside other signatory firms to build a more balanced and fairer financial services industry for all.

Find out more about the Women in Finance Charter

At Path we think that women need to talk about money

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