Interdealer brokers and women just don't mix

Are interdealer brokers the last bastion of political incorrectness in the City of London? When it comes to employing women the answer may well be yes.

"A typical brokerage trading department has around 50 people, of which about five are women," says an HR manager at one broker in London. "Brokerage houses are a long way behind investment banks when it comes to promoting female employment."

Sandrine Rossi Fornelli, a consultant at recruitment firm Mantis Partners worked at broker Cantor Fitzgerald before moving into recruitment in 2003. "When I left, there were around 400 people on the entire floor, of which about 20 were women," she says. "Banks are getting a lot more ethical in terms of minorities and women, but brokers haven't really come around to that yet."

A spokesman for Cantor Fitzgerald says the company is committed to equal opportunities and to treating all job applicants the same irrespective of their sex, sexual orientation, race, religion, age, disability or general 'belief.'

Recruiters question the depth of this commitment. "Brokers aren't going out and making a concerted effort to employ women," says Damien Lee, managing director of brokerage-focused recruitment firm Search Partners. "It's still a very macho oriented world, with a lot of cursing and swearing. Women at interview are warned that they need to entertain clients late into the night and to tolerate groping and leering. The feeling is, that if it's too hot in the kitchen, don't bother getting into it."

Unsurprisingly, women are giving the industry a wide berth. Former JPMorgan equity derivatives salesperson Emma Caroline toyed with the idea of working in broking, but decided against it. "It's just not the place for women," she says. "The biggest thing that put me off was the fact that I was expected to go out boozing every night with the men from the office, simply because they liked having women around. I don't want to do well in a job because I'm good company but because I'm good at the business."

More surprising, perhaps, is the fact that so few brokers have been the target of sex discrimination cases. In fact, most appear to be settled out of court. "Just because you don't see or hear about these things doesn't mean they don't exist," says the HR manager.

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