The Times and 'Opportunity Now' Name BNY Mellon Among the UK's Top 50 Employers for Women

NEW YORK and LONDON, April 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- BNY Mellon, the global leader in investment management and investment services, announced that it has earned two key honours for gender equality in the workplace from The Times of London and 'Opportunity Now', the gender campaign from Business in the Community. The financial services powerhouse with more than 5,500 UK-based employees features prominently in The Times' annual list of the UK's Top 50 Employers for Women, as both a corporate entity and for the sustained and highly effective individual leadership efforts of Champion honoree Helena Morrissey.

For 17 years, the Opportunity Now Awards have recognized the industry leadership, tenacity and influence of top-performing businesses throughout the United Kingdom that also strive for gender equity in the workplace.  Organisations included in the list demonstrate a commitment to actively recruiting, retaining and progressing female talent.

Helen Wells, director of Opportunity Now said: "Businesses are dependent on having a highly motivated and diverse workforce, and being included in The Times' Top 50 Employers for Women list demonstrates BNY Mellon's focus on creating and utilising the skills and talent of a diverse workforce. It is a clear to us that the organization's senior leaders see this as a commercial imperative, not a women's issue. Additionally, winning the Opportunity Now Excellence in Practice Champion Award is testament to the exceptional work Helena Morrissey has done in championing the commercial imperative of gender balance on boards across the financial services sector and beyond. With the 30% Club, Helena has demonstrated unbelievable drive and great success in securing commitment and galvanising action from senior business leaders to achieve gender diversity at the highest levels of business."   

Speaking about the awards, Sheena Wilson, BNY Mellon's global head of talent strategy, said: "Our company aspires to be a top employer for women and an inclusive organisation for all people, so these honours from Opportunity Now are a pleasing reflection of the importance we place on diversity and inclusion as a business imperative. The growth of female talent throughout our company is strong, and continuously improving the diversity of our workforce remains a key priority."

Speaking about Helena's leadership, BNY Mellon EMEA Chairman Michael Cole-Fontayn said: "For more than a decade, Helena has effectively championed the leadership of women in financial services and across industries, participating in and leading many initiatives designed to further the careers of women and prepare them for senior positions. With the creation of the 30% Club, she's successfully broadened the scope to include and challenge the business community."

The Times commented: "The Times, renowned for the diversity and equality of its coverage of local, national and international events, is proud to recognise the achievements of women in all walks of British life."

According to Opportunity Now, Morrissey distinguished herself as a Champion for launching and working to sustain
the 30% Club, an initiative designed to raise awareness of the commercial business reasons for having more women on boards and in senior management roles, and to encourage support and endorsement through engaging Chairmen as members in order to help reach this goal. Morrissey and the 30% Club believe that gender balance on boards encourages better leadership and governance, and contributes to better all-round board performance and, ultimately, increased corporate performance for businesses and shareholders alike.

Morrissey joined Newton Investment Management, part of BNY Mellon, in 1994. Twice-winner of Investment Week's Global Bond Fund Manager of the Year, she became CEO of Newton in July 2001, and in 2007 she was recognized by Global Investor as 'CEO of the Year'. A key commentator within the media on trends affecting financial services and the global economy, she focused initially on ensuring she and her peers spent more time talking about key business issues rather than her work life balance. In 2006, she launched Mellon's (now BNY Mellon) international women's forum, called 'Bowstring', which was a networking group designed to ensure the company attracted, developed and retained the best talent available. In 2010, and following on the internal success of the Bowstring group, she recognized that there was still much work to be done externally and led the launch of the 30% Club.

BNY Mellon is a global financial services company focused on helping clients manage and service their financial assets, operating in 36 countries and serving more than 100 markets. BNY Mellon is a leading provider of financial services for institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals, offering superior investment management and investment services through a worldwide client-focused team. It has $26.6 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $1.3 trillion in assets under management, services $11.9 trillion in outstanding debt and processes global payments averaging $1.4 trillion per day. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com or follow us on [email protected]

Editor's notes:

About Morrissey: Morrissey is a Director of the United Kingdom's Investment Management Association and represents the industry on the FSA's Practitioner Panel.  She was named the Financial News' 'Most Influential Woman in European Asset Management in 2010.  She is a regular speaker at conferences on topics ranging from the future of the fund management industry to developing female talent. She is also a member of the Royal Academy's Corporate Board. A Cambridge philosophy graduate, she began her career as a global bond analyst with Schroders in New York.

About The Times Top 50 process: Opportunity Now managed The Times Top 50 Employers for Women list and judging process.  Entry was by self nomination and open to any employer with a UK presence. Employers supplied detailed information on what their organisation does internally as a top employer for women as well as what it does externally to promote gender equality, diversity and inclusion and to create opportunities for women in a wider context. Organisations were required to supply two case study stories of specific initiatives/programmes which demonstrated the work they were doing to create culture change. All entries were stringently marked against a framework of best practice and assessed on an anonymous basis by a team of gender experts within Opportunity Now.

About Opportunity Now and Business in the Community: Opportunity Now is the workplace gender campaign from Business in the Community. For information about Opportunity Now's work on diversity and inclusion, please see www.bitcdiversity.org.uk.  Business in the Community stands for responsible business. With a membership of over 850 companies, engagement in 10,700 organisations internationally and an employee reach of 14.7 million, Business in the Community is raising the benchmark for responsible business practice. We offer our members practical support to help them transform their businesses and integrate responsible practices into their operations.  And we ask our members to work in partnership with us to help transform communities and tackle serious social issues where business can make a real difference.  Business in the Community is one of the Prince's Charities, a group of not-for-profit organisations of which The Prince of Wales is President. www.bitc.org.uk.

SOURCE BNY Mellon