| Alan Turing | Revolutionised cryptography and laid the foundations for secure digital transactions. Despite his pivotal role in computing, he was persecuted under homophobic laws and convicted in 1952. |
| Sophie Wilson | Co designed the ARM processor architecture that powers most smartphones, and therefore mobile banking. She achieved this at a time when being openly transgender carried significant personal and professional risk. |
| Lynn Conway | Pioneered the VLSI chip design revolution that enabled modern computing, cloud platforms and financial risk‑modelling systems. Her career was disrupted when IBM dismissed her in 1968 as she began her gender transition. |
Service
Creating an inclusive advice experience for LGBTQ+ clients
6 min read 19 Feb 26
The information contained in this page is for UK Financial Advice Professionals only. If you are a private investor, please visit the Private Investor section or contact your Financial Adviser for more information.
Financial inequality remains a persistent, yet often overlooked, challenge faced by many LGBTQ+ people in the UK.
Research on welfare and assets in the UK shows LGBTQ+ individuals are more likely to experience lower savings and reduced support when compared to their peers. Understanding how this can shape people’s finances is important in building trust and delivering advice that supports unique client needs.
Practical tips to building an inclusive advice service
Effective support for LGBTQ+ clients means pairing technical expertise with awareness of the social, legal and economic inequalities that impact their financial journeys.
Here are some things that can help you to create an inclusive advice experience.
Clients may have had negative experiences that make financial settings feel exposing or unsafe.
Things that can help reassure people are:
- Using neutral language (partner, spouse, parent, family) and confirming preferred names and pronouns
- Avoiding assumptions about relationship structures, gender identity or family
- Keeping onboarding and client facing materials inclusive and up to date
- Reassuring clients about confidentially and the purpose behind sensitive questions
- Making inclusive behaviours visible across the firm
No client should be assumed vulnerable. But it’s helpful to be aware that LGBTQ+ people can face discrimination, mental health strain or family estrangement. These factors can affect financial independence and long term planning
The FCA vulnerability framework and our guide to client vulnerability can help recognise when a client might benefit from additional support.
Cohabiting couples without a marriage or civil partnership do not have automatic rights to inheritance, pensions, tax benefits and next of kin status.
Clients may not always realise that:
- Common law marriage has no legal standing in the UK
- Protections need to be put in place intentionally and cannot be assumed. These include, but are not limited to wills, Legal Power of Attorneys, death benefit nominations and guardianship arrangements
Equal treatment for same sex spouses is now reflected in pensions legislation. However, some older or pre equality schemes still contain outdated survivor definitions or default nominations. These legacy documents can influence how benefits are applied and may not automatically recognise a same sex partner.
Being aware of these historic discrepancies can help you recognise when it may be useful for clients to revisit older scheme rules, check past nominations or consider whether unequal accrual or past discrimination has shaped their current retirement position.
Higher rates of family estrangement in LGBTQ+ communities can reduce access to informal financial support or inheritance affecting resilience and long term financial security.
This may show up as:
- Complex or challenging family relationships which create a need for more deliberate estate and long term planning
- Greater reliance on personal savings and protections
- Limited access to family support in emergencies
Building a family can involve significant financial and legal complexity, particularly when fertility treatment, donor conception or surrogacy routes are used. NHS funded IVF has declined over the last decade and same sex female couples and single parents remain least likely to receive NHS funded treatment. Despite small improvements over time, in 2022 around 16% of same sex female couples received funding compared to 52% of opposite sex couples.
Along with funding gaps and high costs, the distinctions between legal parenthood, parental responsibility and workplace policies can add further complexity. Planning with these factors in mind can help to people map out timelines and understand affordability more clearly.
When both partners are women, long standing factors such as the gender pay gap, caring responsibilities and career breaks can combine to create wider wealth and pension disparities.
For women born in the 1950s these challenges may also overlap with State Pension age changes that were communicated with limited notice. Together these overlapping pressures can influence retirement confidence and long term financial security.
It may help to be mindful of:
- Whether both partners have had similar earning patterns that could compound wealth or pension gaps over time
- Uneven career histories, part‑time work or pay differences might influence long‑term planning assumptions
- How income shocks, health changes or caring responsibilities could impact financial resilience when both partners face similar systemic pressures
Trans and non‑binary clients may experience delays or repeated checks when their personal details don’t align across different documents or provider systems. These inconsistencies can create friction and may affect how comfortable clients feel engaging with financial services.
It’s also good to be aware that gender recognition processes, such as obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate, can be lengthy. As a result clients may experience extended delays or repeated requests from providers which can become emotionally taxing.
Approach these situations sensitively and avoid asking for documentation that isn’t required.
LGBTQ+ families often include chosen family, blended households or non-biological parents which are not recognised in law. Estate planning may need to be more considered to ensure a clients’ wishes are upheld.
What to watch out for:
- Next of kin assumptions that don’t reflect a client’s real family structure especially where chosen family is central
- Outdated wills or beneficiary nominations that no longer match current relationships
- Guardianship gaps where non-biological or non-legal parents have caring roles
- Potential for disputes where estrangement or complex family dynamics exist
Changes in gender recognition, survivor pensions, family rights and fertility access continue to evolve. Even small policy changes can influence tax, pensions and estate planning. Keeping an eye on these updates helps ensure client conversations reflect the most current landscape and avoids outdated assumptions.
Building an inclusive workplace
Creating an inclusive environment for colleagues means ensuring everyone feels safe, respected and able to be themselves.
- For managers
- For employees
Leading with visible allyship
- Use inclusive language and correct pronouns
- Signal support in team spaces (e.g., promoting LGBTQ+ History Month or signposting available services and support)
- Offer, and take part in, LGBTQ+ inclusion training
- Invite feedback and create space for colleagues to share what they need
- Intervene early when exclusion or stereotyping occurs
- Ensure recruitment, progression and workload processes are bias‑free
- Review policies such as family leave, dress codes and transition support
- Offer flexibility and wellbeing check‑ins
Being a proactive Ally
- Use inclusive, assumption free language
- Correct mistakes gently, your own and others’
- Call out bias or exclusion where safe to do so
- Take part in LGBTQ+ inclusion training
- Listen openly to colleagues’ experiences
- Support DE&I networks and attend awareness events
February is LGBTQ+ History Month, why does it matter?
LGBTQ+ History Month was founded as a response to the harm caused by Section 28. Repealed in the early 2000s, its impact on schools, support networks and communities was profound. It silenced conversations and fostered shame that many adults still carry today.
Inequality isn’t history, marriage equality only arrived in 2014 and gender recognition reforms are still being debated. LGBTQ+ History Month invites us to reflect not just on activism and legal progress, but on how inequality persists, including within financial systems.
Innovators at the heart of modern digital finance
This year’s theme celebrates LGBTQ+ figures in Science & Innovation, some of whose breakthroughs underpin today’s financial systems.
Their stories highlight resilience, innovation and the importance of diversity in shaping the systems we rely on today.
Moving towards financial equality together
As financial professionals, we have a meaningful opportunity to bridge these gaps through compassionate, informed and inclusive advice.
Inclusivity isn’t just good ethics; it’s good practice. In a sector built on trust, understanding and long term relationships, inclusivity is good business too.