Aggregator Finsure is pushing for a 50/50 split of women and men in its broker network.
Finsure has increased its recruitment of female brokers and the appointment of women to many of its key leadership roles, after launching the Women in Finsure program five years ago.
“When we launched the program, it was a harsh realisation of the percentage of females to males within our industry,” said Finsure NSW state manager and Women in Finsure chairwoman Noushig Megerditchian (pictured).
“Finsure was only five years old at the time and was still in its growing stages, so it was an unexpected realisation.”
Megerditchian said the program empowered female brokers and female staff by providing a confidence boost.
“Our message is you are not alone, we are here to support and empower you,” she said.
The group began with 10 women drinking coffee in a coffee shop, while the most recent event held featured more than 100 women in attendance.
“We are committed to holding four events per year across Queensland, NSW and Victoria, and we are launching in Adelaide and Perth in May and June,” Megerditchian said.
“Many female admin staff attend our events too. Sometimes they will come to me later and say they want to become a broker. They have the knowledge and talent, sometimes they just need that female encouragement to take that step.”
Megerditchian said in her opinion women made exceptional brokers.
“Sometimes they might just need that ‘yes, you can do it’ boost,” she said. “At Finsure, we believe in gender equality, and we want to celebrate female talent by providing a trusted group to rely on.”
Finsure CEO Simon Bednar said the group was strongly committed to workplace equality.
He said female broker recruitment had grown since establishing the program, with 50% of its head office team being women.
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“Over the past 12 months, one in three of the brokers Finsure has recruited have been female, with 200 women recruited over the past 12 months,” Bednar said.
“Out of a total broker network of more than 2200 brokers, 555 are women, compared to 214 in 2018. I want to see the day where it’s at least a 50/50 split between males and females in the Finsure network, and I’m determined to achieve this.”
“We will be working hard at Finsure to reverse this trend and as our broker network continues to grow, we have been appointing women to key leadership roles in the group,” Bednar said.
