As part of our Female Empowerment initiative, we recently hosted a webinar with financial expert Christina Jäger on the topic of financial freedom. The session brought together women from across our international network to discuss an area that remains surprisingly underrepresented in many professional conversations: personal finance and long-term financial independence.
As an international executive search and talent advisory firm, we see first-hand how structural gender gaps shape women’s careers and long‑term financial outcomes. In many markets, women continue to earn less, accumulate significantly less wealth, and face substantial pension gaps over the course of their lives. These disparities compound further because women tend to invest later and less frequently than men, often not due to capability, but due to limited access to knowledge, confidence, or guidance.
For us, addressing these gaps is not only a societal responsibility. It is directly connected to our role in shaping leadership, influencing organisational cultures, and supporting careers at pivotal moments. Empowerment, visibility, and financial literacy are critical levers for long‑term equality. That is why our Female Empowerment initiative brings together career development, leadership perspectives, and personal finance education: three dimensions that reinforce one another in closing the gender gaps.
Through workshops such as the session with Christina Jäger, we aim to provide women in our network with practical tools that extend beyond the workplace. By turning knowledge into action, from career decisions to investment strategies, we want to support women in building both professional and financial independence. This aligns with our broader mission as a consultancy: to contribute to fairer, more inclusive and more balanced leadership environments by empowering women at every stage of their journey.
Christina began the session with a number of statistics that quickly highlighted why this conversation is so important. Globally, women still earn on average around 83 cents for every dollar earned by men. Over the course of a lifetime, these differences compound significantly. In countries such as Germany and Switzerland, lifetime earning gaps can exceed 50%, and pension gaps often reach similar levels. Combined with the fact that women tend to live longer, the financial implications over time become even more significant.
Yet despite these structural differences, women still invest considerably less frequently than men. One of the key reasons, Christina explained, is not a lack of capability, but often a lack of confidence or access to financial education. Many women wait to engage with investing until a major life event forces the conversation. Whether that is a career change, inheritance, divorce or retirement planning. By then, valuable time for long-term wealth building may already have passed.
Throughout the session, Christina focused on making financial planning more approachable. Drawing on her experience working in international wealth management, including advising high-net-worth clients, she translated complex financial concepts into practical and accessible steps that anyone can begin implementing. Her core message was simple: financial independence does not require extraordinary wealth or complex strategies. It starts with understanding your goals, knowing your financial position, and taking small but consistent steps over time.
One particularly powerful reminder from the discussion was the impact of starting early. Even modest monthly investments can grow significantly over time through compound interest. As Christina illustrated, time is often the most powerful asset in building financial resilience and long-term independence.
For us, hosting this session was about more than financial knowledge alone. Within our Female Empowerment initiative, we aim to address topics that support women not only in their careers, but also in building long-term independence and confidence in their personal decision-making. Financial literacy is an important part of that conversation.
The workshop with Christina Jäger offered valuable perspective, sparked thoughtful discussion, and, most importantly, encouraged many participants to begin thinking more actively about their own financial future. Conversations like these are an important step toward closing long-standing gaps and empowering women to take greater control of their financial lives.
The webinar was part of our broader Female Empowerment event series, through which we regularly bring together women from across industries to exchange perspectives, share knowledge, and support one another in their professional and personal development. The next event in the series will take place on 18 June in Düsseldorf, where we will continue the conversation around leadership, careers and empowerment.