Get to know our team - Angela Meyer

Introducing Angela (Ange) Meyer – Mercer NZ’s Gender Equity Specialist.

We sat down with Ange to know more about her mahi on The Table (where Kiwi women can find information to get financially lit), what inspired her to choose her current career path and what life looks like for her outside of work. Ange recently won the Emerging Trailblazer Award at the Financial Services Council Awards for her work in the financial services gender equity space, including the Table. Congratulations to Ange and the Table team.

Check out what Ange had to say below.

1.     What does a typical workday look like for you?

I am a hybrid worker, with lots of passions in and outside of working at Mercer, where I typically work three days a week. I love to come into the office, it’s a great way to collaborate with the team and continue to learn more about what the wider business does and how I can help. I have three parts to my role; leading The Table mahi, working within the Workforce Solutions team and our clients on their gender equity solutions and as I have a background in PR, I’ve been helping with the implementation and strategy.

2.     What is The Table? 

The Table is an award-winning programme for women with financial tips, guides, calculators, retirement planning and one-on-one sessions with Mercer’s financial advice team, plus live events, a podcast series and access to lots of bite-sized content on Instagram and Facebook. It’s a platform where acronyms are explained, complex terms are unpacked, and financial jargon is un-jargoned. 

All members of the Mercer KiwiSaver scheme automatically have access to content on The Table website.

The Table subscribers also have access to monthly emails, filled with tips and information to help people with their financial wellness journey. Calculators to help plan for retirement and purchasing their first home.

We created The Table because KIWI WOMEN ARE RETIRING WITH UP TO 25% LESS THAN MEN ON AVERAGE!

Systemic, societal and structural issues make achieving financial wellbeing for women a more difficult task than for men. Issues like the gender pay gap, the maternity gap, a retirement savings system that provides greater benefits to fulltime workers who don’t take parental or carer’s leave, and the assumption that women are great at spending money and not saving it, continually reinforces the idea that women are not good with money.

There is a big difference between genders and their financial well-being. In a 2021 survey by Financial Service Council showed 80% of women rate their financial wellness as moderate, low, or very low. Just under 60% of female respondents worry about money at least monthly and over 70% feel that financial wellbeing influences their overall wellbeing. You can read the full report here.

We want to change that by empowering women to improve their financial confidence

3.     What have been some of your highlights with the Table and working at Mercer?

Our most recent events Power. Money. Security. in Wellington had over 150 women and Christchurch really turned up with over 200 women in a room. All learning more about money and retirement savings – and having a great time doing it! For our series this year we have Simran Kaur from Girls That Invest as one of our speakers, Rachel Davis who is a mindset coach – we do an exercise where we have a conversation with money and we get incredible feedback about that. Shen Chen (one of the financial advisers at Mercer) gets into the details of retirement savings and answers the most popular questions we get via Instagram and Facebook. It’s great to get feedback and so far, it’s been really positive, for example “This event has totally changed my life – I’ve more confident, I’ve sorted my KiwiSaver funds, I’m investing now and I talk to my girlfriends about all things money – total game changer”.

I love this part of my work, actually meeting women where they are at and providing a service that they want and need. Plus, it really demonstrates Mercer’s commitment to gender equity which is something I have experienced in my time at Mercer. We can always do better! 

Power. Money. Security. event in Wellington, May 2023

4.     What inspired you to choose this career path?

Utter outrage at how women are often treated! Over my career in advocacy, PR, marketing, politics I have seen first-hand how many women are treated by businesses, the state and the system. I was lucky to grow up with two very fierce parents committed to bringing their daughters up in a feminist way, with a lot of laughs. My degree is in Theatre and so I try to bring the lightness and humour that to help move the dial on some pretty depressing stats.

5.      Why do you think KiwiSaver is important?

When so many women are retiring into poverty anything we can do that stops that is a good thing. In 10 years 40% of the population is going to be over 65 – there is a lot of women who will not have enough for a comfortable retirement. KiwiSaver can provide a financial buffer so that the golden years are at least a bit shiny. There is still a lot that needs to be done to ensure that women who are not in paid employment or who are caring for others are compensated and have access to all the benefits of KiwiSaver.

6.     What does life outside of work look like for you/what do you to unwind?

Together with two other women I run Project Gender – we do a lot of advocacy including successfully ensuring a National Women’s Health Strategy was part of the Pae Ora legislation.

I have a 13-year-old son and a lovely husband, with the three of us loving to sail and get outdoors. In fact, we once sailed from the Caribbean across the Pacific Ocean – that’s a whole other story!

Want to learn more about the Mercer team?

Please visit https://www.mercerfinancialservices.co.nz/mercer-magazine/lifestyle.html for more behind-the-scene interviews. 

Additional resources

 

The Table is produced and sponsored by Mercer (N.Z.) Limited.

The Mercer KiwiSaver scheme and Mercer FlexiSaver are issued by Mercer (N.Z.) Limited. Product Disclosure Statements are available at www.mercerfinancialservices.co.nz.

The information contained on this page is intended for general guidance only and does not take account of the investment objectives, financial situation and/or particular needs of any person. Before making any investment decision, you should take financial advice as to whether your intended action is appropriate in light of your particular investment needs, objectives and financial circumstances and consider the product disclosure statement for any product you are considering.

The material contained in this document is based on information received in good faith from sources within the market and on our understanding of legislation and government press releases at the date of publication which we believe to be reliable and accurate. Neither Mercer nor any of its related parties accepts any responsibility for any inaccuracy.

30 August 2023