Women may not make up a large proportion of the wealth-management industry outside of support roles, but change is occurring as the financial services sector wakes up to the advantages of having a more diverse roster of financial advisors.
Jennifer Reynolds, president and CEO of Toronto-based Women in Capital Markets, an organization dedicated to helping increase the number of women in the business, especially at senior levels, notes that women are still significantly under-represented among investment advisors. “I think that the industry – certainly the financial sector as a whole – is recognizing that the low representation of women is a huge issue.”
The bottom line
One reason why industry members are concerned about the low numbers for women is that this situation affects firms’ bottom line: more women are becoming primary, affluent clients, and they are not afraid to take their business elsewhere. A report entitled Why Women Leave Their Financial Advisors, conducted in 2015 by Strategy Marketing (www.strategymarketing.ca), indicates that 80% of widows are likely to switch advisors within a year of their husband’s death.
Executives at independent wealth-management firms believe their businesses are changing to serve women better, but exactly how that change is happening varies from firm to firm. For example, Toronto-based Raymond James Ltd. is taking a goal-setting approach to the recruitment of women into the business.
On the other hand, Mississauga, Ont.-based Edward Jones and Toronto-based Richardson GMP Ltd. are allowing their advisory forces to evolve over time to include more women eventually.
Richardson GMP does not have a specific plan in place for the recruitment of women, says Andrew Marsh, the firm’s president and CEO. However, he notes that some of its strongest performers are women.
“Wave of the future”
Seven of the firm’s top 20 teams are either driven by a female leader or have a female partner. Marsh expects to see this trend continue as many of these female advisors excel in emerging industry trends, such as holistic financial planning and working with intergenerational accounts. Says Marsh: “That’s the future.”
Indeed, intergenerational planning is a specialty of Ann Felske-Jackman’s, an advisor and regional leader with Edward Jones in Uxbridge, Ont. Felske-Jackman, besides running her own practice, is responsible for the recruitment of advisors in her region, which stretches from Uxbridge (which lies northeast of Toronto) north and west to Thunder Bay. One of the draws for women, says Felske-Jackman, is the flexibility an advisory business brings, which many mothers find appealing: today, 22% of Edward Jones’ advisors are women.
“There’s no reason that a financial advisor with young children ever need miss [a child’s] soccer game, dance recital, graduation – anything like that,” says Felske-Jackman. “It is reasonable for me, as a woman, to be home with my family as much as I need to, as long as I run my successful practice.”
Advocacy groups such as Women in Capital Markets and Toronto-based Catalyst Inc. do see organic change happening within the financial services sector, but still believe firms need to take more concrete steps to address the gender gap.
“Setting goals around people and setting goals around the types of teams you want to build, the leadership you want to see reflected through the ranks, is as important as sales, is as important as return on investment,” says Alex Johnson, executive director of Catalyst Canada, the Canadian arm of the larger global advocacy group.
Raymond James is one firm that has taken a goal-oriented approach to bringing more women aboard. That firm’s goal is to have women form 25% of its advisory force by the year 2025. Today, 16% of the firm’s advisors are women.
Annual conference
To meet that target, Raymond James has a number of initiatives in place. For example, the firm hosts a conference each year, in partnership with its U.S. parent company, at which current and potential advisors are invited to listen to guest speakers, attend workshops and network. As well, Raymond James offers a performance-management program to four female advisors each year, through which the group works together to improve their businesses.
“[This program] really brings the women together,” says Adrienne Gligoric, head of strategic initiatives, wealth management, with Raymond James in Toronto. “They network off each other. It makes them accountable.” The first-year participants collectively boosted their assets by 46%, Gligoric notes. And the next year, the group increased its combined revenue by 30%.
Still, in addition to providing opportunities for networking and mentoring, the industry needs to do a better job of promoting the potential of the financial advisory role to a younger generation.
Raymond James is looking to spread the word about careers in financial services to women and men about to graduate. “That’s a big initiative that we’re starting,” says Gligoric, “making sure that the young women and men out there know the opportunities that are there to become a financial advisor.”
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