Women In Focus In Houston

The financial industry is at the bottom of the pile when it comes to accepting, promoting and serving women, says Sallie Krawcheck.

The Merrill Lynch veteran and entrepreneur discussed those setbacks to women with more than 300 attendees at last month’s Invest In Women conference in Houston. The conference was sponsored by Financial Advisor and ETF Advisor magazines.

Krawcheck, whose career arc has led her from equity analysis at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. to the top spot at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, has recently made a new mark as co-founder and CEO of Ellevest, a New York City-based digital investing platform for women. As one of the featured speakers at the three-day Invest In Women conference, she didn’t mince her words about the progress—or lack thereof—women have made within the industry.

The gender pay gap is closing, she said, but only very slowly. At the rate society is moving, she said, it will take women 38 years to reach pay equity; black women will need 110 years and Hispanic women 180 years.

She believes the problem will not change until women attack it as a group. “We cannot do it as individuals,” she said. “We have to do it together.”

Once women unite and demand to be included, the changes will have to come from the CEOs and top leaders in financial services, she said. When she worked for the big-name firms, she said she tried to get the top management to embrace women and the different sensibilities and ideas they bring to the table. But her proposals fell on deaf ears, and that’s why she started her own firm.

Other keynoters at the event included actress Marlee Matlin, former CIA agent Valerie Plame, Ben & Jerry’s founder Jerry Greenfield, advisor Carolyn McClanahan and elder justice advocate Philip Marshall.

While increasing the number of women advisors and serving female clients were major themes of the event, various panel sessions dealt with the nuts-and-bolts issues of running a financial planning—as well as life planning—practice.

During a panel discussion, a couple of business coaches explained how financial advisors can define their strengths to advance their careers. “You need clarity about what you bring to the table” in order to advance in a firm or to move your own firm forward, said Barbara Stewart, founder of Accelus Partners, a coaching firm based in Houston. One way to start learning what your particular talents are is to take the CliftonStrengths assessment, which will identify your top five strengths, she said.