On its first year anniversary, The Scotiabank
Women Initiative™ releases new survey findings, expands program to
Global Banking and Markets (GBM)
TORONTO, Dec. 5, 2019 /CNW/ - Women entrepreneurs who
apply for business loans may fare better than they expect,
according to survey results released today by Scotiabank on the
first anniversary of The Scotiabank Women Initiative. The survey of
nearly 1,000 small business owners across Canada aims to identify the financial needs of
women entrepreneurs.
The survey found that women entrepreneurs lag men entrepreneurs
in applying for business loans – but are more likely to have the
loan application approved. Seven per cent of the 499 women
respondents had applied for a business loan in the 12 months
leading up to the survey, compared to 11 per cent of men
respondents. Yet, women were more likely to have their loan
application approved compared to men (88 per cent vs. 77 per cent,
respectively).
"The landscape of Canadian entrepreneurship is changing and
we're encouraged to see the number of women be approved for
business loans – but we want to empower even more women to gain
access to capital by helping them build financial knowledge," said
Gillian Riley, President and CEO,
Tangerine Bank and executive sponsor of The Scotiabank Women
Initiative. "Women need to step forward in pursuit of their
business ownership goals. The Scotiabank Women Initiative can help
women-led businesses access the tools they need – from financing to
having the right financial knowledge and support to be
successful."
In a successful first year of The Scotiabank Women Initiative,
the Bank has committed $3 billion in
capital to support women-led businesses in Canada over the program's first three years.
Earlier this year, Scotiabank committed capital to Disruption
Ventures – Canada's first
private female-founded venture capital fund for women
entrepreneurs. The program also delivered approximately 40 half-day
and mini regional Un-Mentorship Boot Camps™ nationally.
And today, Scotiabank announced the expansion of The Scotiabank
Women Initiative to its capital markets business – Global Banking
and Markets.
From financial knowledge to financial confidence
The survey found that women entrepreneurs are more likely to
employ capital from personal savings, personal lines of credit, and
family and friends, rather than business sources. In contrast, they
are less likely to reinvest cash flow and to apply for a business
line of credit or term loan compared to men entrepreneurs.
Results also found that women entrepreneurs rate their overall
level of financial knowledge lower than men entrepreneurs: only 45
per cent of women participants perceived themselves to be
'knowledgeable' or 'very knowledgeable' compared to 58 per cent of
men.
"Financial knowledge leads to financial confidence, and that
confidence is what many women entrepreneurs need to seek out
business sources of capital," said Alida
Pellegrino, Vice President, Credit Adjudication, Scotiabank.
"Through The Scotiabank Women Initiative, we're committed to
educating women entrepreneurs about loan assessment criteria and
other key elements of small business financial knowledge."
Program expands to capital markets business
Building on the success of the first year of The Scotiabank
Women Initiative, Scotiabank today announced an expansion of the
program for its capital markets clients. The Scotiabank Women
Initiative for Global Banking and Markets is a tailored,
comprehensive program in support of women clients and those who
stand behind an inclusion agenda.
"We knew from the outset that this program could be game
changing for GBM clients and our business, while also recognizing
that the challenges faced by our clients were different from
commercial and small business customers," said Loretta Marcoccia, EVP & Chief Operating
Officer, Global Banking and Markets at Scotiabank. "We spoke with
our clients to hear first-hand where they saw the greatest
opportunities. They shared the challenges that they faced, and with
their suggestions, we built a tailor-made program to help clients
take their careers and businesses to the next level."
Building on Scotiabank's rich expertise, the new program for GBM
provides access to education, advisory, and innovative
solutions.
For more information, visit our newly refreshed website at
www.scotiabankwomeninitiative.com.
About the survey
The online survey was conducted between
October 18 and 29, 2019 by Scotiabank in consultation with
Dr. Barbara Orser and Dr.
Allan Riding of the Telfer School of
Management, University of Ottawa. Its
499 women and 500 men respondents all own at least 50 per cent of
their company and are either the primary or joint financial
decision maker. A more detailed report of the findings will be
released in 2020.
About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is a leading bank in Canada and a leading financial services
provider in the Americas. We are here for every future. We
help our customers, their families and their communities achieve
success through a broad range of advice, products and services,
including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and
private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital
markets. With a team of more than 100,000 employees and
assets of over $1
trillion (as at October 31, 2019), Scotiabank trades on
the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock
Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please
visit http://www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter
@ScotiabankViews.
SOURCE Scotiabank