Only 6% of insurers expect a significant increase in the number of female leaders over the next five years, according to a new Ernst & Young report.

This is despite an analysis of the S&P Composite 1500 that found businesses with women in top management roles are worth, on average, about $US40 million ($53.49 million) more than companies with only male leaders.

The report, Placing Gender on the Financial Services Agenda, draws on an international survey of 350 business leaders in various industries.

Chair of the Gender Working Group at EY Australia Antoinette Elias told insuranceNEWS.com.au that while the report is global, it is relevant to Australia.

“Australia probably lags further behind some of our global counterparts in gender equity,” she said.

“We can catch up and possibly even leapfrog them because a lot of the research and potential solutions are well documented and can be found outside Australia. So we can move quickly to the implementation phase.”

The survey identified four disconnects holding back gender parity.

The first is the “reality disconnect”, under which business leaders assume the problem is nearly solved, even though little progress had been made in their own companies.

Under the “data disconnect”, companies fail to effectively measure their progress towards gender parity. Only 39% of insurance companies surveyed are formally measuring their performance.

“Banking and insurance are sectors built on an ability to know the numbers,” the report says.

“But when it comes to measuring progress towards gender diversity, we are not doing enough to understand the data around female leadership.”

The “pipeline disconnect” sees organisations lack pathways for female leaders.

“If businesses don’t measure the journey of women from entry level to CEO, they lack the information needed to understand when, why and how outstanding women drop off the leadership ladder,” the report says.

Under the “perception and perspective disconnect”, men and women view the problem differently.

About 33% of female – compared with 58% of male – financial services leaders believe their organisation is effective at promoting women into leadership positions.

“Getting more women to the top, as key decision-makers and influencers, requires first identifying, developing and then promoting potential leaders,” the report says.

Ernst & Young says insurers should set targets and develop action plans for achieving gender diversity. They should regularly measure progress using formal metrics and reporting that exposes pitfalls along the talent pipeline.

Prioritising formal and structured female leadership training programs and building diversity considerations into succession planning are also important steps.