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Diversity, equity and inclusion

Delivering on gender equity

Empowering women and expanding female economic participation helps build a more equal future, strengthens communities and generates growth that benefits everyone.

As we pursue gender equality, we must first embrace a culture of equity, which enables achievement and success for people of all genders by providing tools and resources to help overcome obstacles they may encounter.

Adopting an equity mindset supports all people to reach their full potential and helps build a better future.

International Women's Day 2024

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, 'Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress', is a global call to find and accelerate solutions to improve gender equity through economic participation.

This theme is particularly relevant to Macquarie because it speaks to how the economic empowerment of women contributes to building a resilient society and dynamic economy, reflecting our purpose statement of empowering people to innovate and invest for a better future. It also intersects with the Macquarie Group Foundation’s equitable grant making focus.

Macquarie Group CEO Shemara Wikramanayake, and Head of the Macquarie Group Foundation Lisa George, discuss the Foundation’s work around the world to advance women’s economic inclusion through breaking down barriers to employment and education.

Piettra Silva talks about how Leadership Through Sport and Business (LTSB), a social mobility charity which enables those facing barriers to employment into meaningful careers, helped her secure professional employment.

Supported by the Macquarie Group Foundation for over 10 years, LTSB CEO Rob Burton, and Regional Head of the Macquarie Group Foundation in EMEA Rachel Engel, highlight the impact the charity is having across the UK.

Supporting equity within our workplace

We are committed to achieving more balanced gender representation at all levels across our organisation and are proud of our progress. We employ more women and gender diverse people than ever before, but there is always more we can do. 

62%

Female representation on the Macquarie Group Board of Directors

44%

Female representation across Macquarie’s total workforce

A key focus is developing our internal and external female talent pipelines by enhancing our recruitment processes and providing programs and policies that support gender equity in our workplace.

  • We encourage opportunities for women to support and learn from each other’s experiences and enhance their professional networks and development, including through our employee-led internal networks, such as Women in Tech, the Asia Women’s Network, Balance in EMEA and Women@Macquarie Americas.
  • We provide support to working parents of all genders and those with carer’s responsibilities through flexible working arrangements, paid leave and initiatives such as backup care, parent facilities, and return-to-work coaching for parents and their managers.
  • We continue to maintain gender equity and transparency in all our remuneration, promotion and development practices.
  • We are continuously improving our recruitment process to remove any bias that may exist and focus on creating shortlists of diverse candidates and, in turn, building a more diversified workforce.
  • We continue to maintain gender balance in our Intern and Graduate programs, and women continue to be hired in greater proportion than the underlying application rate.
  • We continue to address the representation of women in the long-term pipeline, encouraging young women to explore a career in financial services by highlighting the exciting career opportunities available and connecting them with role models across Macquarie. 

Creating a more equitable future workforce

We continue to work hard to make our industry a place where women feel they belong and can thrive.

Through actively participating in initiatives, we work to support, inspire and educate women and girls, helping them to deliver to their full potential. 

Girls Who Invest

is a non-profit organisation dedicated to increasing the number of women in portfolio management and executive leadership in the US asset management industry.

The Women’s Foundation

exists to promote the full and equal participation of women and girls in all aspects of Hong Kong society.

The NavGurukul initiative

provides an alternative to college education for low-income youth and young women from rural and tribal regions in India.

Empowering Women in Finance and Tech

provides secondary students in Australia with information about career opportunities available in the finance and technology sectors and sharing stories from female role models.

Women at Macquarie  

Discover the impact that some of the women at Macquarie are having and how their career journey has taken them to where they are today.

Article

Ani Satchcroft: A stellar career in infrastructure investment

Article

Vinella Mendonca: From tech support to equity sales

Article

Diana Delgado: Growth, diversity and a bird’s eye view of Macquarie’s Americas businesses

Article

Q&A with Gemma McRann: Expanding Macquarie’s social infrastructure footprint in Ireland

Video

Lisa Kearney: A fulfilling career in Business Banking at Macquarie

Article

Andrea John and Shampavi Tharmanathan: Mobility in Finance at Macquarie
Achieving gender equity at all levels across our organisation remains a key priority. Whilst we are making progress, there is always more we can do. The responsibility to maintain a culture where everyone can thrive rests with us all.”

Shemara Wikramanayake
Chief Executive Officer

As we look towards future challenges and seek to resume the pace of progress on gender equity after the pandemic, it is more important than ever that we ensure women and girls are equally represented in all aspects of society.”

Alex Harvey
Chief Financial Officer

It’s vital for women to be represented in future-focused areas and to be involved in driving change in critical areas of need – such as climate change. Without the equal representation of women in the development and implementation of solutions to these issues, we are restricting our scope of ideas from the outset.”

Verena Lim
CEO, Asia

Learn more

Discover some of the ways we are creating a workplace where every person is valued for their uniqueness and where different views and ideas are embraced.