The forum will look to encourage third-party organisations to find creative ways of engaging women more effectively in their financial futures
Phoenix Group has partnered with Fintech Scotland and TCS Co-Innovation Network (TCS Coin) to launch a Women’s Innovation Forum, to aid industry attempts to tackle the gender pensions gap.
The group was introduced after research from the group’s think tank, Phoenix Insights, found that women are being left behind in their pay and pension saving at key life stages, saving 34% less than men on average by their 40s, and 51% less by their 50s.
The forum will thus look to encourage third-party organisations to find creative ways of engaging women more productively in their financial futures and enhance their ability to make better informed financial decisions.
Applicants to the forum will be encouraged to address innovation, creativity, and implementation in their proposals, and to contemplate how to deliver these solutions to a considerable customer base.
Proposed solutions will be evaluated on factors including their potential impact, scalability and originality.
Phoenix Group director of corporate affairs and investor relations and executive sponsor of the scheme, Claire Hawkins, said: This an exceedingly vital issue for a large number of people in the UK and a topic close to my heart.
Far too many women are not saving enough to meet the income levels they want or expect in retirement and this is a big opportunity to reach out to them and engage them in their financial futures so we can help them make better, more informed decisions that can eventually result in securing a better, longer life, he said.
He added: We are passionate about improving their knowledge, confidence and capability to improve their financial outcomes in retirement. That is why we are looking for organisations who can find creative, scalable and effective solutions to address the gender pensions gap as we look to develop and explore new ways of dealing with this issue.