Nucleus Foundation joins forces with the Verve Foundation to encourage more women into financial services
Nucleus Foundation has partnered with the Verve Foundation to fund and support an initial cohort of 10 women to join the We Are Change programme.
The programme is designed to provide training and qualifications support to those looking to start a career in financial advice.
The grant from the Nucleus Foundation will allow the Verve Foundation to launch a programme targeted specifically at women for the first time.
The support from the Nucleus Foundation will provide the entire cohort of women with the funding required to achieve their Level 4 CII Diploma in regulated financial planning.
The Nucleus Foundation was launched at the start of the year with £750k of initial funding. One of its key areas of focus is to encourage more women into financial advice careers working alongside organisations who are committed to increasing diversity within the sector.
Despite positive steps forward in recent years, the financial advice industry continues to see a stark difference in the number of women entering the profession. According to the most recent data from the FCA only 16% of regulated financial advisers in the UK are women. That’s why this initiative is so important as it is will help attract and train more women to consider a career in financial advice which ultimately will help increase access to qualified female financial advisers.
Richard Rowney, CEO of Nucleus and Nucleus Foundation Trustee, said: “We’re proud that the Foundation’s first major investment is centred on encouraging more women to become advisers. We greatly respect the work of the Verve Foundation and are pleased to be able to partner with them to play our part in tackling the diversity gap in the advice sector.
“This is one of the first grants the Nucleus Foundation has made and it clearly demonstrates the positive contribution and impact we want to make. I can’t think of a better way of using our resources to bring about this much needed change, and help train the next generation of financial advisers.”
Hayley Rabbets, Head of the Verve Foundation, said: “We’re delighted to have the support from the Nucleus Foundation to launch an exclusive We Are Change cohort specifically designed to help support more women into the industry.
“Anything the sector can do to break down barriers and make the industry a more diverse, inclusive and welcoming place to be is to be celebrated. So, to have the support of the Nucleus Foundation, whose aims and values so closely align with our own, is really exciting.”
For more information on the We Are Change programme and the application process please go to the Verve Foundation website.
You can download a PDF of the press release here
Enquiries:
Linda Harper
Head of Public Relations
E: newsroom@nucleusfinancial.com
T: +44 (0) 7876 145309
Notes to editors:
About Nucleus
The Nucleus Financial Platform Group offers investment platforms that help make retirement more rewarding. Our two platforms are run exclusively for financial advisers, with over 160,000 UK customers.
Renowned for its SIPP expertise, James Hay Partnership has been working with larger financial advisory groups for more than 40 years, providing the means to administer pensions, savings and investments in a cost and tax efficient way.
Our award-winning platform Nucleus was acquired by James Hay in September 2021. It was founded in 2006 by advisers committed to altering the balance of power in the industry by putting the customer centre stage.
Nucleus is the name of the combined business and together it’s already one of the UK’s leading, independent, adviser platform groups, with approximately £44 billion* in assets under administration.
To find out more visit: www.nucleusfinancialplatforms.com
The Verve Foundation: We Are Change
Originally launched in 2021 to help those who became unemployed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, The Verve Foundation’s We Are Change initiative continues to attract people from outside the industry, supporting them throughout their journey into a range of roles.
The initiative works by attracting those who would love a career in finance but who would otherwise struggle to get a foot through the door. It then sets them away with fully funded qualifications, to enhance their appeal to prospective employers, and also provides practical skills and training, to help them identify the financial services segment that is best matched to them.
Success for us is helping them secure a role, anywhere in finance, as this means more talent, more ideas and more interest in an industry that has hitherto struggled to attract the attention we believe it deserves.
* Source: the lang cat Platform Market Scorecard Q2 2023