Insider Profile: Katie White

Katie White is an award-winning Attivo Associate Director. She is responsible for mentoring and training new recruits and hopes to bring more women into finance.

Why do you think more women are needed in the financial world?

Finance has always had the reputation of being a male-dominated environment – a kind of old boys’ club, and the role of a financial advisor was seen as something of a sales role rather than a client relationship one. What you’ll find with an Attivo Lifestyle Financial Planner is that we’ll help you to support the people you care about and the dreams and plans you have for the future. Core knowledge of your subject is obviously vitally important, but I think the reason that we need more women in the business is that we have a certain set of ‘soft’ skills that come very naturally. Women can be particularly good at listening, as well as picking up on what is important to our clients and putting the pieces together to bring this to fruition.

Have you seen a shift towards a different way of working?

When I first joined the industry, there was a lot of travel involved, virtual meetings (the precursors to Zoom and Teams meetings today) were almost unheard of and it meant the role wasn’t terribly family-friendly. Nowadays, there is a degree of flexibility that exists. It means, for example, that career breaks can be easier to manage. More people are making the most of new, flexible working patterns which mean you can continue with your career progression, even if you take time out to have a family; both parents are able to take an equal part in family life. Essentially, this means the working environment has changed a lot. And whilst women are still often the primary childcarers, their careers shouldn’t suffer as a result.

Have you noticed a shift in the way women are involving themselves in their financial future?

For many years, I would often notice that women would take a back seat when discussing finance and traditionally it would be two men talking markets and volatility and putting the world to rights. But aside from the fact that women are outliving the male population, we should all take responsibility for the household finances. I’ve seen a real gear change over the years, with female clients just as keen to understand what’s happening with their investments. They may well have had their own businesses and feel passionate about how their money is going to be put to work. I think it’s emotive issues such as lifestyle choices, security and providing for children and grandchildren that press women’s buttons. It’s not just useful but essential that everyone understands how economics and politics affect our daily lives.

Have you seen the landscape change in terms of women and finances? 

Yes, both in attracting more female advisors to Attivo and in seeing more women engaged with financial matters on social media. The surprise to me is that it’s taken so long. The priority, as far as I’m concerned, is to actively recruit more women into the industry and we’ve begun this process at Attivo by going out to schools to talk about the benefits and job satisfaction of working in finance. If you look at social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Twitter there’s a world of female financial influencers out there. There are also some great podcasts which are aimed at helping women take control of their finances and although we don’t quite have the female Martin Lewis yet, it’s just a matter of time!

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