The venture is an attempt to get more young women interested in a financial sector career, tapping into a trend of firms seeking to diversify their talent pool.

UBS and Bloomberg have launched a global programme to inspire young women into pursuing a financial career, a push that fits with a focus on a need to improve diversity and widen the industry’s talent pool. 

The firms are rolling out "Girls Take Finance," which builds on the 2019 "Girls Take" events. The new programme provides young women, aged 14 to 18, with insight into the financial services industry and career opportunities in business, finance and technology.

This year’s schedule include Frankfurt, Jakarta, Johannesburg, London, San Francisco, São Paulo, Sydney, and Zurich.

"As someone who started his career in financial services as an apprentice at age 15, I know first-hand how important encouragement is to making career choices," UBS Group CEO Sergio P Ermotti said. "That's why I'm so delighted to expand the programme this year. Together with Bloomberg, we can inspire hundreds of young women who otherwise might not have seriously considered pursuing careers in areas like finance, banking and technology."

It is often noted that the wealth management industry remains dominated by men, and that in some nations such as the US and UK, is getting greyer. This puts the sector under pressure to widen the talent net to meet the needs of new, younger entrepreneurs and inheritors.

UBS and Bloomberg partner with non-profit organisations in each city to host on-site events. The full-day programming will include workshops focused on career growth and networking skills, panel discussions with industry experts, and motivational talks with volunteers about the variety of careers in financial services.

“Businesses that want to attract tomorrow’s brightest talent must do more to make careers in their industry accessible to more diverse groups at an earlier age,” said Peter T Grauer, chairman of Bloomberg and founding chairman of the US 30% Club. 

In October last year, the “Girls Take Wall Street" event was held in India. Nearly 150 young women from colleges across Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad participated in the mentoring events. Students also had the opportunity to ring the Closing Bell at the Bombay Stock Exchange and visited the India International Exchange (INX), India’s first international stock exchange.