Gender equality goals and progress

Since 2016, the UK Bank has increased the percentage of women in leadership roles by 78%, rising from 18% in June 2016 to 32% in June 2025.

Handelsbanken aims to have 40% female leaders by 30 June 2031.

We originally set this goal for 2026. After a detailed review of our progress, trends and wider business context, we have updated the delivery timeline to 2031 to maintain focus, and ensure long-term, sustainable improvement while keeping the same ambition.

• Our Employee Resource Groups (ERG’s) lead on engagement and awareness – we are proud to have five Employee Resource Groups at Handelsbanken; ‘Gender’, ‘LGBTQ+ and Allies’, ‘Wellbeing’, ‘Valuing Differences’ and ‘Neuro-Inclusion’. These groups of collective voices have been instrumental in driving awareness and engagement and will be an integral resource in driving action within our D&I Strategy for 2026 and beyond.
• Wellbeing Plan – the creation of this plan will provide a sustainable and progressive set of actions for us to nurture a resilient, empowered and healthy workforce that thrives in an inclusive work environment. The plan will focus on various pillars (such as values, leadership and life at work) that will help to drive action that will support business growth and also support employees with agile adaptation to change and technology.
• ‘Ignite your Career’ – we have launched a series of learning that has particular focus on levers of career progression. Whilst we are taking an inclusive approach to this learning with the content being consistent and available to everyone; we will run mixed sessions as well as female-only sessions. By having gender-specific cohorts, we will be able to create environments where women feel more comfortable to share experiences and develop amongst individuals with similar experiences.