Financial News has been promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in the City for nearly 30 years.
To build on our history of championing progress on long-standing issues, we are proud to present 20 stories from some of the finance sector’s most influential LGBTQIA+ leaders about why they chose to come out at work.
The list, which we’ve published to coincide with Pride Month, showcases senior executives’ journeys — from being in the closet to being proud of their identities — in their own words. They have all shared lived experiences, good and bad, about why they decided to come out at work, what they were feeling on the day and how their companies supported them.
They also gave great advice for those who are scared to come out at work and expressed views on what finance firms can do better to support LGBTQIA+ employees.
The unranked list, put together after careful consideration by FN’s editorial team, spotlights senior leaders from banking, Magic Circle law firms, asset management, Big Four accounting firms, hedge funds, regulatory bodies and fintech firms among others.
Why this list? Less than half of workers feel comfortable being out with all their colleagues, according to a 2023 Deloitte survey of 5,474 LGBTQIA+ people in workplaces in 13 countries.
Another third of respondents said they are only comfortable being out at work with select colleagues, while some aren’t comfortable being out with anyone at work at all when it comes to their sexual orientation (14%) or gender identity (17%).
This is why the finance sector’s exceptional LGBTQIA+ community must be celebrated.
While all different, the lived experiences of the senior leaders on this list have had a huge impact: not only have their stories shaped their own careers, they have also put diversity on the agenda for their employers.
If the list inspires even one more person to become an ally for diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, we will deem our endeavour successful.
IN FULL Pride of Finance list: 20 coming out at work stories from senior leaders
London Stock Exchange CEO Julia Hoggett: ‘I realised being gay was not an inhibitor to my career’
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EY partner Victor Nieves: ‘Coming out at work helped me tell my family I was gay’
Gender fluid banker Pips Bunce: ‘I received death threats for being myself’
M&G director Mark McLane: ‘I came out to colleagues at a work party’
PwC’s Martin Smith: ‘I felt nervous, I had never disclosed my true identity to senior partners’
Linklaters’ Scott Simpson: ‘If I’m not out and open, I can’t be the best lawyer I can be’
Clifford Chance’s Anna Thwaites: ‘I outed myself by applying for leave for my civil union’
Cicero chair Iain Anderson: ‘I came out on national TV, it was a scary moment’
