The CII compared government data on pay this year and last and says marginal improvements are evident although the financial advice sector has improved more than other sectors.

There were 23 financial advice firms identified by the CII as reporting pay data this year with a median gender pay gap of 25.5% - a significant drop from last year’s reported gender pay gap of 28%.

The media gender pay gap in the insurance sector narrowed sightly from 24% April 2018 to 23.2% in April 2019

The CII took gender pay gap data the government reported in April 2018 for 199 insurance and personal finance sector companies in April 2018 and compared it with data the government reported in April 2019 for 197 of the same types of businesses.

The CII then analysed data for the companies – comprising insurers, intermediaries, loss adjusters, financial advisers and other related organisations - to spot trends.

According to the CII’s analysis, the data published by the government on pay quartiles illustrates the “root cause” of the gap.

Much of the disparity in pay and bonus was a reflection of the proportion of men and women represented at different levels and in different roles within the financial services industry, it said. 

Tali Shlomo, people engagement director of the Chartered Insurance Institute, said: “While there are some marginal improvements in the overall gender pay gap, our profession needs to continue to tackle the root cause of both gender and ethnicity pay discrepancies.

“We need to build a profession that is relevant and reflective of the communities that we serve.

“These figures show that there is still much more we can do as organisations and as individuals but by working together and sharing best practice, I am confident our profession can narrow the gender pay gap in the years ahead.”

Data from the government can be found here: https://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/