Inspiring the next generation of female leaders in finance

UBS and Bloomberg put their heads together with an idea to change the face of finance, one girl at a time.

A global initiative, Girls Take Finance aims to educate and inspire young women from diverse backgrounds to learn about the variety of careers in the financial services industry.

Building on the success of our inaugural events in 2019, we're bringing Girls Take Finance to 12 major cities worldwide in 2020. From Jakarta to San Francisco, we're collaborating with our Community Affairs education partners to help more than 500 female students from diverse backgrounds participate in the initiative.

In each city, students visit UBS and Bloomberg offices, hear from senior leaders and industry experts, participate in skill-building workshops, and network with volunteers to learn about employees' own personal backgrounds and professional journeys that brought them to the world of finance.

At UBS, we know opportunities open doors, which is why it’s important that young people, regardless of their background, are able to gain experience at an early stage to find their passions and unlock their potential. Girls Take Finance is an example of our longstanding investment in our local communities and commitment to empower the next generation of young people. This is demonstrated through efforts across the firm such as Community Affairs programs including The Bridge Academy in the UK, Keys To Your Future: College and Career Readiness in the US, YES (Young Enterprise Switzerland) in Switzerland and UBS Community Academies in APAC.

The business case for gender diversity in the workplace is widely acknowledged, and research has shown that a greater proportion of female executives and directors generally correlates with higher returns.1 In addition, a UBS analysis of the 1,000 largest US-listed firms found that gender-balanced companies have higher dividend yields, on average.²

We acknowledge there's still much progress to be made in transforming the financial services industry to reflect today's society. At UBS, we recognize that strength stems from diversity, which is why we're dedicated to advancing women in business, finance and technology through programs like Girls Take Finance.

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