Financial advisers ponder ways to increase female headcount
US financial advisory firms are mulling making changes to their recruitment, compensation and training practices to attract more female employees. Despite more than half of the US population being female, only 16% of financial advisers are women. A number of firms are making sure candidates for open positions come from a diverse pool, while other firms are fostering an environment where employees can have more flexible working hours.

Boosting the number of women in the financial advice business to a level that more equally represents the population may require firms make changes related to hiring, compensation, training and other areas.

It also will require getting more men on board with the effort, according to the comments from a group of about 150 women who gathered Tuesday to discuss ways to increase the ranks of female financial advisers. The group spent three hours brainstorming solutions in a pre-conference session at the Schwab Impact Conference being held in Chicago this week.

“We’re looking for specific actions that we can take back to our firms and communities to further increase the representation of women in this industry,” said Susan Forman, senior vice president and head of marketing for Schwab Advisor Services.

While 51% of the U.S. population are women, only about 15.7% of financial advisers are female, and less than a quarter of Certified Financial Planners are women — amounts that have barely changed in a decade, according to Suzanne Siracuse, publisher of InvestmentNews, who moderated the discussion.

(More:​ How to encourage the rise of senior women in financial advice)

Recruiting is one of the areas that firms participating in the session said needs to change. At one advisory firm, they have a recruiting team that requires there to be a diverse set of candidates identified before interviews can begin for any position at the firm. That firm also has programs to help encourage more junior employees to experience many different areas of the business to try and find one in which they can particularly thrive.

At another firm, the focus is on work-schedule flexibility, allowing four-day work weeks so advisers at the firm can care for children, or in some cases, provide care for a parent.

Other firms provide women advisers with training and coaching to help with leadership development.

Lisa Poff, director of marketing and communications at Bridgewater Wealth Management, an advisory firm, said compensation structures that are built solely to reward those who are going out and getting business versus those who are taking care of the business is another deterrent for women in this industry.

At Bridgewater, which manages about $1 billion in client assets, the firm actively tries to create an environment that’s supportive to its female advisers.

“We have created a culture of feeling like everyone’s voice is heard,” she said.

Six of its nine advisers are women.

(More:​ Advice firm carves out unit for women investors)

The group agreed it’s important to get more men involved with the effort to expand the numbers of women in the business.

However, they were not overflowing with examples of successful efforts.

“That’s an area where we need to look for more solutions,” Ms. Siracuse said. “Men need to buy into this and understand the business case for this.”