By
Cory Roberson, Principal at FINCompliance and FIN Lancer
Diversity & inclusion
initiatives
October 9, 2018. During a luncheon, that featured a keynote
address from the first African American CFP-recipient* in the United States, more than 200 industry professionals joined together in celebrating
diversity and inclusion.
The Investment News
Diversity and Inclusion awards, with more than 25 recipients, recognized
the achievements of underrepresented professionals in the investment management
industry. The luncheon was
held at the Hotel Edison in New York City.
Under representation
continues to be an issue for some minority professionals. According to the CFP Board, less than 3.5 percent of all 80,000 CFP® professionals in the United States are black or Latino. In a CFP survey
conducted amongst industry professionals, “Some 27% of black CFPs and 29% of black and Latino
business prospects cited [companies reluctant to hire or promote] people of color as the broad reason (for under representation )”.
Recipients included: Cameo Roberson, a Rising Star award recipient, Principal
of Atlas Park Consulting & Finance**, and my sister. See
shares her experiences below.
 |
Participants included
(photo): LeCount Davis, Cameo
Roberson, Gurinder S. Ahluwalia,
Lee Baker, Tony
Barrett, Louis Barajas, Lazetta Rainey Braxton, Joshua T. Charles, Nandita Das,
Jennifer Hatch, John Rogers, Tracey Tynes, Pamela Brylski, Divam Mehta, and
representatives from organization winners (as mentioned below) *.
|
Cameo’s work on Diversity and Inclusion (D & I)
Q. What are your observations on diversity in
the industry?
A. As an African American woman, there were a few challenges
towards climbing the ladder for leadership roles in
the investment industry. One was a lack
of role models who looked like me---I did not see many black women in the
industry, and yet alone, those who reached leadership ranks.
Many
advisors also see diversity as an issue. According to a 2018 Fidelity Talent and
Diversity Study, 68% of advisors are keenly aware that talent acquisition is a
problem in the advice industry. A lack of training and mentorship could also be exacerbating the issue for
diversity in talent and acquisition.
During
the span of my 15+ year career, I
felt that there was a lack of support of training and mentorship programs that provided
a clear path to leadership roles. While
challenging this notion, I took steps to identify mentors and expand my network
in the industry.
First, I sought to identify
cheerleaders and confidants to push
me forward in my professional aspirations. Next, I became an advocate for pursuing
opportunities to demonstrate my capabilities as a leader. As such, I used this foundation to build a
strong network of professionals who believe in me like my inner circle of
friends and family.
Q. How did you
start working with the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (“NAPFA”)?
A. While building a strong network, I realized that there
were other women of color going through similar experiences. As such, I sought initiatives to create a
pathway for advisors of color to succeed in this profession. In 2016, a conference sponsored by NAPFA
changed the trajectory of my work in diversity and inclusion.
Daphne Jordan CFP®,
another proponent of inclusion, and I engaged in a discussion with NAPFAs CEO, Geoff
Brown surrounding the lack of diversity. In our mutually beneficial discussion, we
formed the Diversity & Inclusion Initiative, as a part of NAPFA’s
existing efforts.
Daphne and I are now champions for
diversity initiatives within the organization.
Our efforts are
growing. We now have a core committee of
eight advisors from across the country working to create programs for advisors
of color to thrive. One such goal,
announced on September 13, 2018, was a Diversity
& Inclusion scholarship program for financial professionals to
attend NAPFA’s national conference. The Fall 2018 NAPFA conference took place from
October 15 – 18th in Philadelphia.
The CFP Board's Center for Financial Planning is hosting a Diversity Summit on October 23rd in New York
City (at the time of this writing).
Q. What inspires you to pursue these goals?
A. For my brother and I, my parents instilled that we could do
anything we aspired to become. As such,
my career ambitions grew towards leadership, training, and advocacy. My passion for this industry, along with my professional
background and initiatives, is now aligned to promote diversity and inclusion. With
that said, I seek to help balance this profession with qualified talent
representing diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.
In an industry that is becoming more and more
automated, diverse talent can be the defining component for firms to remain
competitive and to meet their client’s needs. With that said, I believe that firms who can adopt
those measures may realize higher levels of both talent and client
satisfaction.
Q. What was discussed
in the Diversity and Inclusion workshops?
A. The Investment News Diversity workshop included
to following: “Diversity is a Three-Pronged
Solution”
Core Benefits
Diversity offers an untapped opportunity to
help solve the talent crisis;
Diversity can give firms a better chance of
meeting the evolving needs of the investor population; and
Diversity focused firms show stronger
business performance.
Other Winners
*LeCount Davis, the first African
American to receive the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation, was
awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
 |
| LeCount Davis |
Gurinder S. Ahluwalia, CEO of 280 Capital
Markets;
Lee Baker, President of Apex Financial
Services;
Tony Barrett, Managing Director, Raymond
James & Associates;
Louis Barajas, Principal of Wealth Management
LAB
 |
| Cameo Roberson and Louis Barajas |
Lazetta Rainey Braxton, Principal of Financial Foundations;
Joshua T. Charles, Principal of Financial-360;
Nandita Das, Principal, Das Financial Health;
Jennifer Hatch, Principal of Christopher
Street Financial;
John Rogers, Principal of Arial Investments;
Tracey Tynes, VP of Wells Fargo Advisors;
Pamela Brylski, VP of Goldman Sachs;
Divam Mehta, President of Mehta Financial
Group
Firms/Organization Winners*
CFP Board
 |
| Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis, Executive Director of CFP Board |
Financial Freedom, Wealth Management Group
Navigoe
Wealth Consulting Group
BlackRock
Broadridge Financial Solutions
Impax Asset Management/PAX World Funds
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Northern Trust Asset Management
Oppenheimer Funds
Raymond James Financial
Schwab Advisor Services
About Atlas Park**: Atlas Park Consulting & Finance is at the intersection of intelligent business solutions and holistic personal financial advice. Atlas Park is a dual-purposed firm rooted in the financial planning profession - providing personal wealth management strategies for women, enhancing client service operations for advisors, and providing strategic leadership for firms to create effective diversity and inclusion programs.
In terms of personal finance, we inspire women to better manage their money. Focusing on personal finance foundations, our service allows women to obtain clarity in the pursuit of their financial objectives, ultimately realizing their goals faster.
By consulting with advisors, we design service operation road maps for firms to better serve their clients. We use our expertise to ensure that advisors obtain the best tools and systems; structuring operations in a way to make good on their client service promises.
Our inclusion initiatives help advisors to develop a stronger platform for talent acquisition and diversity within their firms. We equip firms with actionable steps on boosting firm culture, incorporating talent, and generating a positive return on investment (“ROI”)
Compliance and Business Management
FIN Compliance (FinCompliance.io) is a
consortium of compliance services including: RIA Consults-Roberson Consults
Group, a compliance consulting firm, RIA Review, a compliance-management
software tool (SaaS), B-D Review, a RIA/Broker-Dealer compliance management
software tool, and FINLancer is a business
management portal featuring: E-signature tools; Invoicing integration,
Vendor Directory, continuity directory*, business client document portal, and
more (available by Q3 2019). Access all services
on one site: FINCompliance.io.
Impact
FIN Missions (FINmissions.com) provides business support group
sessions for other entrepreneurs. In addition, Cory has volunteered
for more than fifteen youth programs in locations such as like S. Korea, China,
S. Africa, Thailand, and India.
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