Women and ethnic minorities remain significantly underrepresented among the sector’s senior leaders.

Among UK-listed wealth managers, only one — Brooks Macdonald, which trades on the junior AIM exchange — has a female chief executive, Andrea Montague, at the helm. 

This gender imbalance is reflected in Financial News’s inaugural Twenty Most Influential in Wealth Management list, which features just five women.

All bar one are from private banking businesses.

The City’s biggest lenders are vying for dominance in the lucrative wealth management market, which is set to enjoy explosive growth thanks to a record number of rich retirees passing their fortunes on to the next generation.

Banks have overhauled their wealth teams in a bid to expand their reach with the high-net-worth crowd, and many of these efforts are being led by senior women.

Sasha Wiggins is currently steering Barclays’ wealth push. Wiggins, a 20-year plus veteran of the UK high street lender, was picked to lead its private bank and wealth management business in February. She has been given a “wide remit” to turbocharge growth, and hired heavy-hitter Mo Syed from Coutts to bolster the bank’s wealth business in the UK.

Annabel Spring is one of the key players behind HSBC’s drive to target mass affluent investors. Spring, who was named CEO of global private banking and wealth in September 2020, has spearheaded a major restructuring effort —  which has seen profit in the private banking arm more than double — and expanded HSBC’s wealth footprint in burgeoning markets like China and Dubai.

UBS Global Wealth Management’s Emea boss Christine Novakovic and Edmond de Rothschild chief executive Ariane de Rothschild have also stepped up at pivotal moments for their respective firms.

Novakovic — better known as ‘Christl’ to her colleagues — has led a major overhaul of UBS’ wealth operations following its historic tie-up with Credit Suisse.

Rothschild returned to the helm of her private bank in March 2023 following the death of her husband, Benjamin. During her first stint as CEO from 2015 to 2019, she led a transformation project culminating in the bank being delisted and becoming 100% family-owned. She is the only female CEO of a bank in Switzerland.

Rounding out FN’s list is Mary-Anne Daly, Schroders’ global head of wealth management. Daly, who came on board after the FTSE 100 fund group acquired Cazenove Capital in 2013, has been chief executive of the blue-blooded wealth firm since 2017. Cazenove has been the biggest success story in Schroders’ wealth play, with Daly greatly expanding its UK footprint.

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Write to Kristen McGachey at kristen.mcgachey@dowjones.com