Registered investment advisor firms are hiring more women than the financial services business as a whole, but the number of women executives at RIA firms is still low, says Neesha Hathi, who heads the talent initiatives for Schwab Advisor Services.
According to recent Schwab research, 40 percent of the people in client-facing positions with RIA firms are women, Hathi says. The number usually advanced for the industry as a whole is about 25 percent to 28 percent.
However, even among RIAs the percent of women in executive roles hovers at about 21 percent, Schwab says, although that is still a little better than the overall industry, where 18 percent to 19 percent of leadership roles are held by women.
Schwab also studied the firms offering equity to advisors. One quarter of firms offer equity, but among those firms, only 20 percent is held by women.
Schwab has undertaken an aggressive campaign to draw women into the financial services industry and to encourage firms to promote them.
The number of women employed by RIAs is higher than the industry average because RIAs offer the kinds of opportunities that women find attractive, speculates Hathi. Women clients are more likely to select a boutique firm for financial advice rather than a large broker-dealer or bank.
And women advisors are more likely to value helping clients achieve their goals and they want to have flexible work schedules, which are the kinds of advantages that characterize RIA firms, she says.
“But we have an awareness problem; many young advisors don’t know there is an alternative to the wirehouses for employment. At least half of RIA firms are making a deliberate effort to draw more women into the industry, and Schwab wants to help them achieve that goal.
Schwab prepared a presentation, Being an RIA, that firms can customize for their own business model to use as a recruiting tool to draw in new talent. The firm also is developing a recruiting playbook to help firms attract talent. “The big wirehouses are going to make presentations at colleges and universities. But a lot of students don’t know that an RIA is a relationship manager. We want them to know there is an alternative” for employment.
The playbook will give advice for interviewers on combating unconscious bias. “For instance, we tell them to cover up the names on resumes, and look at whether the person is a good fit, without looking at whether it is man or woman applying for the position.