FSC Declaration signals continued industry action to grow women’s financial wellbeing

The Financial Services Council [FSC] today announced the It Starts With Action Summit Declaration designed to lead, guide and inspire change for wāhine in Aotearoa.

 “The FSC’s three month It Starts With Action Campaign, aimed to grow the financial confidence and wellbeing of women in New Zealand and this declaration ensures the continued focus on more equitable financial outcomes for all New Zealanders,” said FSC CEO Richard Klipin.

“We want to change the statistic that emerged from recent FSC research which showed 80% of Kiwi women rated their financial wellbeing as moderate to very low,” he said.

Minister Hon Jan Tinetti, Minister for Women, will give the keynote address, while prominent industry leaders and gender equality champions, the FSC and industry will signal their continued commitment to women’s financial wellbeing at the It Starts With Action Summit today.

The It Starts With Action campaign has helped guide and shape the debate around women’s financial wellbeing and identified some key gaps and opportunities. These include:

• The gender retirement gap and the role of KiwiSaver.
• The role of financial capability at home, at school and at work.
• The role of protecting what matters and identifying risks.

As a result the FSC makes the following declaration and commitment for all New Zealanders.

It Starts With Action Summit Declaration

The FSC and its members will:

1. Establish a national industry working group to lead the change in women’s financial wellbeing.
2. Deliver ongoing consumer communications and resources in collaboration with our members and the sector to help Kiwis:
1. make informed financial decisions
2. protect what matters
3. navigate healthy financial relationships.
3. Continue to support financial literacy in schools.
4. Develop a policy platform to enhance retirement outcomes for wāhine.

 “We’ve been hugely encouraged by the uptake of this campaign by so many organisations and individuals. Over 100 supporters and organisations engaged in over 70 activities, which when combined with the FSC’s own activity saw us reach out to over 1.6M New Zealanders,” said It Starts With Action campaign lead, Clarissa Hirst.

“This campaign is not the end of the FSC’s commitment to growing women’s financial confidence and wellbeing – it's simply the beginning of our strategic vision to grow the financial confidence and wellbeing of all New Zealanders,” said Klipin.

*Source: FSC It Starts With Action Supporter Impact and Feedback Survey, FSC social media and HubSpot data collected between 2 May 2022 and 24 July 2022.