A variety of initiatives have increased diversity in the advisor industry, but progress has been slow, according to new research from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.

The challenges have been especially tough for the advisor industry, “which has a legacy of dominance by white males and an exclusion of women and people of color, in both executive and staff positions,” the board said in a new report.

Despite the growing evidence that more diversified teams offer measurable financial benefits, “everyone is still struggling to move the needle,” said Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis, executive director of the board’s Center for Financial Planning, in an interview with Financial Advisor.

“Even large firms that have large [diversity and inclusion] departments and initiatives are still struggling with increasing their metrics,” she said.

Mohrman-Gillis led the CFP Board’s Diversity Summit in Washington, D.C., last week.

CFP Board data continues to confirm that women and people of color are severely underrepresented in the financial planning profession.

While women represent 52% of the U.S. population, just 33% of all financial advisors and only 23.2% of all CFP certificate holders are women, the board said.

Hispanics and Latinos make up 16% of the population, but just 7% of advisors and 1.9% of CFPs.

African-Americans account for 13% of the population, 8% of advisors and only 1.5% of all CFP certificate holders, the CFP Board found.

Some 4,300 women have become advisors since 2016, during a time when the industry has grown by 53% overall. “We’ve also welcomed many new men to the profession,” Mohrman-Gillis said. “While the raw percentage of women entering the profession has gone up, it’s been hard to increase the percentage of women to men.”

During the same three-year time period, blacks and Latinos have experienced a 0.2% increase as advisors. “It’s too soon to tell if the trend is going to continue, but we’re doing everything we can through the center and to catalyze the industry,” she added.

The main takeaway from the summit is that the time to go from talk to action is now if the industry hopes to increase diversification. “What’s working is expanded metric goals. Diversity and inclusion programs in firms are, broadly speaking, not likely to succeed without commitment and resources from the top down, even when it might conflict with other business imperatives,” Mohrman-Gillis said.

Case in point, she said, is Chase Wealth Management, which has “very aggressive goals for increasing representation in their advisory workforce, even to the point where hiring managers are being asked to hold positions open longer than they’d like to in order to build a diverse slate, even when managers say: ‘I don’t have a person of color to hire and this is hurting my bottom line.’”

It’s these kinds of commitments that are needed to drive better outcomes, Mohrman-Gillis said.

“Diversification has to be a strategic priority and part of a firm’s DNA,” she added.

One problem is that many business leaders assume diversity initiatives will disrupt the existing work environment, the board’s study said. However, an analysis of findings over the past five years suggests that diversity “tension” is not a detriment, but actually a key advantage that can be used as a creative force for change and quality decision making.

Research also shows that more diversity means stronger financial performance.

The mean revenues of organizations with low levels of racial diversity are roughly $51.9 million, compared with $383.8 million for those with medium levels and $761.3 million for those with high levels of diversity.

The same pattern holds true for sales revenue by gender diversity: The mean revenues of organizations with low levels of gender diversity are roughly $45.2 million, compared with $299.4 million for those with medium levels and $644.3 million for those with high levels of diversity, according to research in the American Sociological Review.

The study, which included robust statistical analysis of more than 1,000 for-profit U.S. firms, showed that gender and racial/ethnic diversity is correlated with three key measures of business performance: a company’s number of customers, its market share and its profitability—even when other factors are taken into account.

The financial piece should absolutely be a motivator for firms, Mohrman-Gillis said. “The financial executives we hear from have both the heart and mind to succeed at diversification. They see it as a moral imperative, but also something that the firm would get more success from,” she added.