Raymond James, on the other hand, has had an internal women’s initiative for 23 years, explained Lynch, but today only has around 1,000 female advisors, roughly 15 percent of its workforce.
On the other hand, said Lynch, Raymond James has improved retention of its woman advisor workforce, has connected better with female clients and has improved its firm culture via the initiative.
“I would also say increased awareness among the men in our firm has been a huge changing milestone over the past few years,” said Lynch. “I can’t tell you how many male advisors come tell me—how can you help me partner with women? They’re paying attention to the specifics and recognizing the trends—they don’t want to lose the woman clients when their husbands die.”