ISSUE 16: August 2026
Endless sunny days (for now)
Hello lovely HWN community,
It’s been a very long, hot summer so far. In typical British fashion and being a weather obsessive, I’m now praying for rain because I love my garden and we have a hosepipe ban where I live. Positively in this summer of heat, Her Wealth Network continues to move from strength to strength, and we are attracting a new and younger audience as well.
Over the summer, we’ve had some great events. The amazing Victoria McLean from CityCV once again gave us a masterclass in CV management and why it could be holding you back. The sifting algorithms are way more powerful than I had realised but if you know what they are doing and why, then navigation can be successfully achieved. Vic is doing another two virtual sessions for us on 10th September on Imposter Syndrome, and 19th November on building your LinkedIn brand - so please book your place here to avoid disappointment. These sessions will not be recorded, so if you miss it, you miss out.
Finding Your Voice
June 2026
Our flagship annual event didn't quite make it across the line in the way we'd hoped in June. It felt like London's tube network was working against us with a series of tube strikes, causing us to move the date twice.
We decided rather than cancel the event entirely, knowing how much work happens behind the scenes, we went ahead with the public speaking bootcamp. We also had half the intake, again due to the lack of transport, but the show must go on!
Four brilliant, brave women showed up anyway. They chose to invest in themselves, step outside their comfort zones, and fully embrace the workshop with Rachel Grieve - and they absolutely smashed it!
We are hoping Finding Your Voice 2027 will take place in its full glory.
Own the mic with London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG)
July 2026
Chimmy, ably supported by Laura, Anya and Sarah created a new session for us – Own the Mic for the Gen Z community.
This session was held on 13th July at the London Stock Exchange open to young women from age 18-23 years.
They were thrown in at the deep end, many of them were first time presenters and it was nerve wracking. Supported by Akua Opong, Olga Gailako and Patrick Henrick, the team from LSEG, the attendees learnt some new skills and bravely spoke up. This culminated with an interview with Abigail Foster in the LSEG professional podcast studios. For more information, please see the blog by Anya - the podcast with Abigail will follow shortly.
New blogs to catch up on
We’ve been on a mission of late to increase our frequency of blogs. Marisa Kershaw has written a stellar piece on Perfectionism which I thoroughly enjoyed, there is another book review and Emily Boxall on Money Talks – Emily was also one of our finalists for Finding your Voice this year. All the blogs can be found here.
If you've ever thought of writing something for Her Wealth Network, please do get in touch - we'd genuinely love to hear from you.
Talent Talks
Sarah has been busy with her latest podcast series which is titled Her Money. Her Work. Her Power. This series focuses on some practical stuff, from understanding your payslip with Rebecca Leiper, through to being a survivor and truly financially independent with Lily McNally.
Emily is decidedly our contributor of 2026 and features in her own podcast on breaking down barriers to money comfort and most recently Sarah was joined by Ylva Baeckstrom exploring the psychology of money.
It really is a fascinating series. Money is such an emotive and often secretive subject. Here we aim to break down the barriers and support you to know more without having the embarrassment of asking. We are planning more support around wealth later in the year. You can find the podcasts here.
Sometimes some women have the capacity to amaze you with their tenacity, their drive and their humanity. This is most certainly true of Taban Shoresh OBE, the founder and CEO of The Lotus Flower. Chimmy was lucky enough to record a podcast with Taban which is available now. If you want to be inspired and in turn to share with others, please have a watch and listen. As this podcast also features video, we are sharing a You Tube link below. All other podcasts can be found in the usual places you find your podcasts, just search for Talent Talks.
Taban was as a young child, a genocide survivor and later as an adult started The Lotus Flower after witnessing the ISIS attacks in 2014 first-hand. Through her charity, she is now committed to supporting other women and girls who have survived the horrors of war and displacement to find their potential. Please do take a look at her charity's website.
FundForum 2026
A small number of us were fortunate enough to attend FundForum in Monaco in June. Here with some other champions, we held one of the Women Mean Business lunch sessions on Mending the Broken Rung. Sometimes it feels like we are going backwards in the workplace – only recently there has been a long discussion on LinkedIn algorithms and news articles of women in their 40’s and 50’s who are struggling to find work despite their extensive experience and curiously are having more success in taking out some of their early work almost making themselves seem younger to get past the algorithm gate. Ageism is the new ism it seems. Despite this, never give in is etched in my soul and I do genuinely feel that every little thing we can all do helps.
Winter drinks are round the corner
We will be holding our winter drinks in Q4 this year and will get out a save the date as soon as we are able. Our plans for more in person events haven’t quite gone to plan most recently, but undeterred we have filled the gap with blogs and podcasts and hope that these are finding some resonance with you all.
A word from our sponsors, Scottish Widows
The investment gap
According to our research, fewer than two in five women invest outside of their pensions i.e. in stocks and shares, property, government bonds and other investments. This compares to more than half of men. And this gap is particularly big for young women – only 34% of women aged 18-24 say they invest, compared to 64% of men aged 18-24. Are you investing outside of your pension?
A recent BBC article stated that women who invest their money get slightly higher long-term returns than men, according to new analysis. Do you want to know more? Get to grips with what investing entails by visiting our Invest in you hub. You don't need to be a Scottish Widows customer to benefit from our upskilling hub. Take a look and see what you could be doing to grow your money.
*Market movements mean the value of your investments may go up or down in the short term. Source of our data: Scottish Widows Women & Retirement report 2025.
Drive to survive
Women face unique financial hurdles at each stage of their lives and Scottish Widows have developed a game to illustrate how this plays out during your life. To play, collect coins and tools while steering past the obstacles in your path. Learn how our characters have overcome barriers too on their journey to financial wellbeing.
Wishing you a wonderful rest of your summer.
Best wishes
Kate Webber
Founder, Her Wealth Network
Her Wealth Network is a professional networking group, empowering women to achieve success by facilitating relationships and discussing topics that improve career opportunities for its members with an aim to optimise the gender balance across the industry. The group was founded by Kate Webber, who has worked in the asset servicing sector for over 25 years.
