LONDON: London’s investment banks are struggling to shrink the gender pay gap, with women making up less than a fifth of top earners.

       Female bankers made up on average just 15.5% of the top quarter of earners at a sample of 10 securities units in the City of London, according to government data compiled as of April 5, 2021. That’s up only slightly from 2020’s average of 14.9%.

       That proportion is worse than the broader finance industry’s 20.5%, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of filings submitted to the United Kingdom government.

       It’s a reminder of how the best-paid parts of finance remain particularly male-dominated.

       Morgan Stanley & Co International Plc had the lowest proportion of women in the highest pay quartile, at 10.9%. Goldman Sachs International had the highest with 22.4%. The picture is complicated by some companies reporting separate data for subsidiaries.

       J.P. Morgan Securities Plc, for example, has 15.4% women in the top pay bracket, compared to 30.2% in J.P. Morgan Europe Limited.

       The shortfall is stark even when examining median wages at the 10 units – an approach that strips out the impact of the highest earners. Under that measure, female workers across the lenders face an hourly pay shortfall of 34%, down from 35% a year earlier. — Bloomberg