Entertainment

JK Rowling voted best female financial role model

A fifth of people do not think there are any good female financial role models in the public eye, the survey to mark Good Money Week found.
A fifth of people do not think there are any good female financial role models in the public eye, the survey to mark Good Money Week found. A fifth of people do not think there are any good female financial role models in the public eye, the survey to mark Good Money Week found.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling has topped a public vote to identify the best female financial role models.

But the survey, to mark Good Money Week – from September 29 to October 5 – also found a fifth of people do not think there are any good female financial role models in the public eye.

After Rowling, who is known for her philanthropy, Dragons’ Den investor Deborah Meaden and businesswoman Karren Brady, who appears on TV shows The Apprentice and Give It A Year, were in joint second place.

Deborah Meaden
Deborah Meaden Deborah Meaden (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)

Oprah Winfrey was next in the survey, which gave people a list of names to choose from and the option of suggesting someone not listed.

Good Money Week encourages sustainable and ethical investing. This year it is focusing on female economic empowerment.

Karren Brady
Karren Brady Karren Brady (Yui Mok/PA)

Charlene Cranny, campaign director of Good Money Week, said: “It is a shame and a disservice to many of the amazing women doing good things with their money that many of us don’t think there are any good female financial role models in the public eye.

“Something clearly needs to change here. There are plenty of good financial female role models all around us, and we need to shine more of a light on their amazing work.”

More than 2,000 people were surveyed across the UK.

Sarah Coles, a personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said its research had found that only one in five women are fully confident about their financial future.

She said: “It’s vital we conquer the investment gap.”