The Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) has joined forces with Stonewall to publish a new paper calling for stronger inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals across the UK’s financial and business sectors.
The collaboration, part of SPP’s Inclusive Futures series, highlights the persistent inequalities that continue to affect LGBTQ+ people despite decades of social and legal progress.
The report, featuring insights from Simon Blake (pictured), Chief Executive of Stonewall, and Savannah Adeniyan, Solicitor at Travers Smith LLP and SPP member, shines a light on the inequalities that still shape financial security, workplace culture and representation in senior leadership. It calls on pension providers, employers and policymakers to translate diversity pledges into measurable action.
Blake warns that while the UK has made significant strides since the late 20th century, “a clear picture of inequality remains which flows through to financial inequality and a LGBTQ+ pensions gap.” He points to data from ILGA Europe showing that Britain has slipped from first to 22nd place in European equality rankings over the past decade, reflecting a wider pattern of stagnation and regression.
The figures are stark: two-thirds of LGBTQ+ young people have faced discrimination based on their sexuality or gender identity, while hate crime reports have climbed to nearly 28,000 incidents a year. In the workplace, more than half of LGBTQ+ employees report experiencing harassment or bullying, and almost a third say they do not feel able to be open about their identity at work.
Blake argues that the pensions and financial services sectors have a crucial role to play in addressing these systemic gaps. He urges employers to learn from LGBTQ+ history and lived experience, to ensure scheme information and communications reflect diverse family structures, and to make paperwork and policies genuinely inclusive. “This isn’t just about representation,” he writes. “It’s about dignity, fairness and ensuring our futures are built on equal foundations.”
Adeniyan’s contribution, titled Visible, Open, Engaging, offers a personal reflection on her experience as a queer Black woman in the legal industry. While she celebrates the progress that has made workplaces more inclusive, she acknowledges that barriers remain. “My queer identity has been welcomed throughout my career in a way that I know many LGBT+ professionals did not experience at the start of theirs,” she writes, recalling how early in her career she was advised to “go back into the closet” to get a foothold in law.
Although such attitudes are fading, Adeniyan says too many professionals still encounter “glass ceilings” or feel unable to be open about their identity for fear of harming their careers. Yet she remains optimistic, pointing to genuine strides being made across the legal and pensions industries. “The proper measure of diversity and inclusion is in actions, not words,” she concludes.
The paper makes a broader economic and moral case for inclusion, arguing that equality is not just a social goal but a strategic imperative for sustainable business. It calls for greater accountability in how organisations measure progress and challenges leaders to see inclusion as part of good governance and risk management.
Together, Stonewall and the SPP are urging financial and professional services to move beyond statements of intent and make inclusion a lived reality — one where every individual can plan, work and retire with security and pride.
