StoneWall and SPP team up to address LGBTQ+ inclusion gaps in business and retirement
The Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) has joined forces with StoneWall to publish new strong inclusion papers on strong LGBTQ+ inclusion in the UK financial sector.
The collaboration, part of SPP’s upcoming series Embracing the Future, highlights the persistent inaccessibility that continues to affect LGBTQ+ people despite decades of social and legal progress.
The report, which features insights from Simon Blake (pictured), Chief Executive Officer of StoneWall, and Savannah Adeniyan, SOLENS SMITH LLP and SPP member, is a culture of bringing back great leadership. It calls on pension providers, employers and policy makers to translate Diversity promises into measurable action.
Blake warns that while the UK has made great strides since the late 20th century, “the stark picture of inequality remains in financial inequality and the LGBTQ+ pension gap.” He points to data from Ilga Europe which shows that Britain has moved from first to 22nd place in Europe’s equity markets over the past decade, reflecting a wider pattern of overcrowding and backwardness.
These statistics are stark: two-thirds of LGBTQ + have faced discrimination based on their gender or gender identity, and reports of hate crimes have increased to almost 28,000 incidents per year. At work, more than half of LGBTQ+ employees report experiencing harassment or bullying, and almost a third feel they can open up about their identity at work.
Blake points out that the pensions and financial sectors have an important role to play in addressing these systemic gaps. He urges employers to learn about the history of LGBTQ + and life experience, to ensure the details of the Scheme and communication reflect the various family structures, and to make documents and policies include authenticity. He writes: “This isn’t just about representation. It’s about dignity, fairness and ensuring our future is built on equal foundations.”
Adeniyan’s contribution, with a visual, open, engaging, personal reflection by a black female legal designer. While he celebrates progress that has made workplaces more inclusive, he acknowledges that barriers remain. “My queer identity has been accepted in every job I know somehow + LGBT + professionals never went to their beginnings,” he remembers before going to law “to return to law.
While such attitudes are fading, Adeniyan says too many professionals still meet at a “glass ceiling” or feel unable to open up about their identities for fear of harming their careers. Still he remains optimistic, pointing to real steps being taken across the legal and pensions industries. “The right level of diversity and inclusion is done through actions, not words,” he concludes.
This paper makes a broad economic and ethical case for inclusion, arguing that equity is not only a social objective but a critical one for sustainable business. It requires greater accountability in companies to measure the way development and challenge leaders to see that it is included as part of good governance and risk management.
Together, StonewWall and SPP encourage financial services and professionals to move beyond mission statements and make real inclusion a reality – where everyone can plan, work and retire safely and proudly.
