Brokerages focus in on diversity

Although all firms have different approaches, a common thread that binds many of the brokerage sector’s major players together is their commitment to developing business practices that are conducive to welcoming and integrating women and minorities into the sector.

“Diversity and inclusion are front and centre at our firm, with specific people appointed to communicate the ethics of equality,” says a TD Wealth PIA advisor in Ontario. “They communicate this to advisors and are continually addressing shortfalls and where they want to improve.”

One way that some of this year’s top-rated firms are bringing attention to the issue of diversity is by having women’s advisory or leadership groups in place to ensure that the firm’s policies are responsive to the specific needs of women.

For example, Edward Jones has established its Women’s Initiative for Growth Strategies – dubbed WINGS. The focus of this program is to increase the firm’s recruitment, retention and growth of female advisors, says David Lane, the firm’s principal and head of the Canadian division, who notes that about 25% of Edward Jones’ advisors are women.

In particular, Lane says, mentorship programs are a key component of the WINGS: “Only our best and brightest will mentor these individuals.”

The strength of this strategy, and the fact the firm has put gender and diversity concerns front and centre, appear to be key reasons why Edward Jones advisors gave their firm the highest performance rating in the category, at 9.5 vs 8.7 in 2012.

“The firm is very focused on recruiting women and minorities,” says an Edward Jones advisor in Ontario. “There are focus groups to ensure equal opportunity.”

Macquarie, for its part, also has adopted a female-focused program called The Women of Macquarie. Under this program, female employees and advisors from across the globe are able to connect and share ideas with each other through an internal web portal.

In addition, Macquarie has established another diversity program known as “Single Parents’ Day” in which single parents are permitted to bring their children into the office to introduce them to their colleagues.

“We are very open-minded and are extremely supportive, whether you are male, female, a single parent, heterosexual or homosexual,” says Earl Evans, Macquarie’s CEO and head. “We are inclusive.”

That desire to have brokerage firms represent diverse communities is a sentiment shared by many other firms. And, overall, it appears that there is increasing pressure on firms to meet basic expectations – such as having a robust maternity-leave policy in place. This would help dispel the long-held stereotype that the industry is an “Old Boys club,” as an advisor in British Columbia with Toronto-based RBC Dominion Securities Inc. (DS) describes it.

“This business is made for females; it’s a relationship business,” adds an advisor in Ontario with Toronto-based CIBC Wood Gundy. “Women aren’t necessarily driven by the bottom line. It can take longer for women who are having children to build books of business. It’s a challenge to commit 80 hours of work a week. Then again, there are clients who will deal only with women [as their advisor].”

It’s for this last reason that being diverse, not only in gender but in ethnicities, is an important consideration for brokerage firms’ leaders – not only because of broader societal pressures to be inclusive but also because there is a good business case to be made for being diverse.

“There is a recognition that the advisor population does not reflect our client and prospect population,” says Bill Brown, national sales manager with Toronto-based BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. “[It’s important] to go out and proactively hire advisors who have language skills that are targeted to particular communities.”

And as brokerages try to tap into more ethnic communities, Brown says, they will have to develop comprehensive training and education programs that will help advisors cater to the needs of these communities.

Advisors across the board agree that there is a link between boosting diversity across the board and strengthening advisors’ businesses. “People invest with those they identify with,” says an Edward Jones advisor in Ontario.

Although many advisors hope their firms’ executives continue to focus on promoting diversity and inclusivity, other advisors are more concerned that focusing too much on this will put too much pressure on firms to establish and meet gender or ethnic quotas within the advisory sales force.

“There is a lot of effort put in [on diversity and inclusion], but I’m not sure it can be effective,” says a DS advisor in B.C. “You want to search for women and different ethnicities, but you still want to hire the best people possible.”

That said, Monique Gravel, Wood Gundy’s managing director and head, says that balancing gender and ethnicity with having the best people on board is not a mutually exclusive effort.

“We endeavor to hire every ethnicity, every background,” Gravel says. “We have only one restriction – and that’s the quality and integrity of the individual. That’s where we draw the line.”

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