While the stereotype of a typical City banker might be of a white male, a new study has revealed that London’s financial services workforce is actually a hotbed of diversity when compared to the UK at large.

In what is a heartening affirmation of the City’s ethnic diversity, Astbury Marsden, the financial services recruitment firm, found that 69 per cent of its workers are white – significantly below the 88 per cent proportion found in the UK overall.

Looking at specific ethinicities, the firm found that people of Indian and Chinese origin make up 12 and 4 per cent of the City’s workforce respectively. This compares to 2.5 and 0.7 per cent nationally.

Religious diversity is also higher in the City than for the UK as a whole, according to Astbury Marsden’s findings. Hindus in particular are much better represented within the City: 9 per cent of respondents said they are Hindu, compared to 1.3 per cent for the UK at large. Meanwhile, 46 per cent of City workers designate themselves as Christian, compared to 69 per cent nationally, and atheism is also higher in the City (30 per cent of City workers say they have no religion, compared to 23 per cent for the UK as a whole).

Astbury Marsden also took the arguably brave step of quizzing City workers on their sexuality, and found that here too London’s financial district is more diverse than the wider UK population. While the Office for National Statistics estimates that 1.1 per cent of the UK populace are gay or lesbian, 3.3 per cent of the City workers polled by the recruitment consultancy put themselves in this category.

True meritocracy

Commenting on the survey’s findings, Astbury Marsden’s chief operating officer pointed to the City’s status as a meritocratic employer which therefore attracts top talent from across the globe.

“The City was once seen as the preserve of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (‘WASP’) males and the old school network, but banks in the Square Mile and Canary Wharf have changed radically since then,” he said.

“Politicians and commentators may be cynical about banks and hedge funds, but those employers are really committed to recruiting and promoting the best of the best. Banks in London have been traditionally very proactive about taking on the highest calibre maths, economics and engineering students – irrespective of their backgrounds.”

He also highlighted the role that London’s prestigious academic institutions play in encouraging diversity, noting that the capital’s business schools can act as “feeders” to investment banks and hedge funds.