Lastly, I am pleased to share that we continue to strive to improve diversity in local leadership and U.S. advisor ranks. In 2020 our firm rolled out inclusive recruiting guidelines that call for at least one candidate from a diverse background on all manager interview slates posted for competitive hire. As a result of this change and others, so far in 2021, 95% of all positions filled at RBC Wealth Management in the U.S. had at least one woman, person of color or LGBTQ candidate on the shortlist and almost 20% of our hires identified as a person of color. Meanwhile 45% of our RBC Wealth Management corporate summer 2021 interns identified as BIPOC.
All of these things matter and are very much what we as a company operating in the global, 21st century should be doing. But for clients seeking to align their investments with their values, the ESG practices of the companies they do business with – including their wealth manager – are equally if not more significant. Or at least they should be.
At a time when so many want seem to want to jump on the ESG bandwagon, I am pleased to be able to say that at RBC, the commitment is real. In fact, ESG principles are so deeply embedded who we are as a company that I believe we can approach Responsible Investing from a far more authentic lens. And that’s important, because, at the end of the day, the advice we give our clients is infinitely better when we believe it ourselves.
Michael Armstrong is CEO of RBC Wealth Management-U.S.