ABGSC Women in Finance Foundation continues to support Norwegian network for women in front-office finance

Above, from left: the Foundation’s chair Adele Bugge Norman Pran, CORE’s Sigtona Halrynjo and KIFF head Julie Ytreland (CEO of Nordea Finance Norway) during the KIFF event. 

Last week, the network group “Kvinner i Frontfinans” (KIFF) (“Women in front-office finance”) held one of its regular network events for its members at Nordea’s offices in Oslo, featuring a number of presentations designed to provide industry insight. At the event, the 60 participating women from the finance industry heard from Sigtona Halrynjo, of the Centre for Research on Gender Equality (“CORE”) at the Institute for Social Research, who presented CORE’s recently released research on gender equality in front-office finance, which was funded by the Foundation.
Since the start of 2023, the ABGSC Women in Finance Foundation has supported the KIFF initiative, which aims to improve gender equality in front-office finance in Norway. The network offers a variety of networking opportunities, and conducts activities that provide insight to the industry for both female students who are considering a career in finance, as well as women who are already working in it.
The Foundation is pleased to see that the CORE research project, which examines hindrances to gender equality in the industry and possibilities for change, is being widely shared, and the Foundation’s Marianne Daae commented that, “We believe the report’s findings will contribute to a better understanding of the possible initiatives that could increase female participation in the financial sector. Equally importantly, we believe it will be crucial to make the research available and well-known to decision makers in the finance industry, so that they can act on it. Making it known to members of the KIFF network, which includes some of the future leaders and decision makers of the industry, is especially valuable, as we hope the research can be instrumental in furthering the work of promoting gender equality in the Scandinavian financial industry”.
The Foundation initially supported KIFF by funding the administration of the network, which is carried out by the Norwegian Finance Society (Norwegian: “Foreningen for finansfag Norge”), an independent and non-profit society that aims to contribute to the efficient and ethical functioning of Norwegian capital markets, and to encourage greater public understanding of the function and importance of the capital markets in the Norwegian economy. Since 2024, the Foundation has additionally supported the network directly, both in its efforts to encourage the recruitment of more women to the finance industry, as well as in its efforts to help retain women within the industry. You can learn more about the network’s activities and the Foundation’s support here.

Above: Sigtona Halrynjo presents during the KIFF event. 

About “Kvinner i Frontfinans” (KIFF)
Founded in 2016, KIFF is a network for women working in front-off finance, including within markets, research, investment banking, asset management, investor relations and the CFO office. The network acts as a meeting place for members to exchange ideas and meet other likeminded women; it also seeks to increase awareness of the vital role that the finance industry plays in Norwegian society. KIFF’s main goal is to attract more women to the finance industry and to retain the women already working in it.
KIFF’s principle activities include:
– Hosting a variety of networking events for members
– Conducting a market survey to analyse the state of affairs for women working in front office finance
– Hosting university events to meet graduate students and encourage them to consider finance as a career path
– Delivering a mentorship programme for young female professionals
– Promoting female professionals as spokespersons within media
KIFF operates primarily through a LinkedIn group with counts 650 members, where they focus on networking and sharing information. In addition to the KIFF LinkedIn group, the network manages a privately listed, open access LinkedIn group called “The finance girls” (Norwegian: “Finansjentene”), which currently has 1230 followers. This group focuses mainly on recruitment. The network’s base consists of around 60 women spanning a variety of roles within front-office finance, i.e. Financial Analysts, Portfolio Managers, Brokers, Heads of Responsible Investments or Green Finance, advisors etc.