Women in Finance Charter Annual Report highlights continued progress

Newly released data from Ireland’s Women in Finance Charter shows that female leadership rates are improving across financial services among Charter signatories.

Now in its fourth year, the 2026 Women in Finance Charter annual report has been compiled by the ESRI in collaboration with Financial Services Ireland / Ibec, Insurance Ireland, BPFI and Irish Funds, and the Irish government. Launched by EU Commissioner Michael McGrath and Minister of State, Robert Troy, earlier this week, the report highlights the continued progress being made in improving female representation across financial services. Matheson partner Tara Doyle was delighted to attend the launch event on behalf of Matheson.

Key findings, published by the ESRI, include that:

• the average proportion of women on boards has increased by 2.1 percentage points to 38.4 per cent;
• the average proportion of women at executive committee level increased by 3.2 percentage points to 34 per cent; and
• overall, 51 per cent of employees in the Charter firms are female.

At Matheson, we are proud to be signatories to Ireland’s Women in Finance Charter. The Charter, which is industry led and supported by the Government of Ireland, launched in 2022 and underpins the financial services industry’s ambition to see the increased participation of women at all levels within financial services organisations based in Ireland.  As a signatory to the Charter, Matheson is committed to setting targets for increased female representation to achieve better gender balance and a more inclusive working environment.  Matheson is a majority female firm and is proud of the opportunities it provides for women to advance within the firm.  It continues to work to ensure gender diversity is reflected at all levels of the business and to further demonstrate its ongoing commitment to the Women in Finance Charter.

For further information, read the Women in Finance Charter 2026 annual report.