Diversity & Inclusion Awards Firm Honorable Mentions

Full name of company Type of organization If other, please describe City State Year firm was founded Firm’s…

Full name of company	Type of organization	City	State	Year firm was founded	Firm’s assets under management	Please describe the firm’s initiatives that were developed to foster diversity and inclusion within the firm or within the financial advice profession. Describe the firm’s internal programs that seek to improve diversity or its external campaign to boost financial literacy among diverse groups, publish research or other writings showing the impact of diversity and inclusion, or other successful efforts to advance diversity and inclusion in the advice business.
UBS Financial Services	Broker-Dealer	San Diego	CA	1858	More than $200 million	Financial services is known to be a heavily male-dominated industry. For a few years, UBS Financial Services has had a program called “All Bar None,” (ABN) which is intended to engage, educate and empower employees to promote the professional advancement of women at UBS and to champion the vision, values and strategies of the firm. Up until 2017, however, this program was limited to only a few major offices – in NY City; Weehawken, NJ; and Nashville, TN. In May of 2017, however, Debra Cammareri and Jennifer Povlitz were appointed as co-heads to build out ABN across the field. Since then, the program has expanded greatly, opening 17 additional chapters in the US, with “Field Connectors” as chapter chairs in each community who are empowered to lead the programs in their locations. They conducted a survey to determine the types of programs and events people would want to have and learned that participants are interested in career and skills development but that networking among peers was equally important. Community involvement and philanthropic activities also ranked high. The mission for the Field Connectors is to grow the business and themselves by increasing opportunities for women – both as financial advisors and in other roles in which the women themselves may be interested. Both men and women are encouraged to join in as participants but all the chapter chairs are women. The UBS executive committee has been quite supportive of the concept – giving ABN a budget that would help them to promote the concept to all internal audiences. Launch events have been held in each of the new chapters, ranging from professional development seminars, to yoga events, to purely social networking events such as the Rose’ wine event recently held in Los Angeles that drew 65 attendees, including the four most senior male executives in the city, who wanted to show their support for the idea. 1,000 new members have joined the program thus far, bringing the total to about 3,000! More growth is expected in the next few years as ABN is just now launching chapters in Mexico City and Toronto and is planning a formal mentorship program in all the chapters. Teams reflect diversity in race, ethnicity, age, gender, background, education, sexual orientation and other characteristics. Q#2: Perhaps the best result of All Bar None program at UBS is it exposes women to career options they didn’t know they had, and helps them achieve them. In branch offices, everyone takes pride in achievements of women in the company. They are making connections with other people who can help them both inside and outside UBS, and broadening resources who can help grow their practices. community impact: o Financial literacy programs for high school girls from lower income families, teaching about budgeting, creating life plans, and giving back to charity and family o Season of Service summer programs – More than 50% of UBS employees volunteer time for this firm-wide initiative.
AXA Advisors, LLC	Registered Investment Adviser	New York City	NY	1859	More than $200 million	Answer #1 Axa Advisors To help the underserved markets/communities AXA must first ensure that its financial advisors (FA) are equipped with the knowledge and expertise. Several programs are in place to help the FA to be on top of their game. Each program has the same goals which are to share sales ideas and best practices, and to network for further learning and opportunity to do joint work. This translate to first class service to clients The programs are: 5 Annual Diversity Summits for the following groups: African American, Asian, Hispanic, LGBT and Women’s. They are educational conferences designed to provide additional knowledge to FA outside of what they receive from the local branch level Annual diversity breakouts at the National Leaders Forum, a recognition event for top FA. FA hears each other’s best practices Multi Market Diversity & Inclusion calls – monthly and quarterly national study group calls for FA to share and exchange ideas on sales techniques and how to provide the highest degree of service to clients Marketing materials both in English and in-language (Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Japanese, Vietnamese and Polish) as well as market specific materials for the LGBT and women’s markets Field Advisory Councils (one for each group) who partner with HQ for all diversity related matters as well as acting as peer advisory groups for the FA These support and tools help our FA go out to the communities with confidence that the help they provide for individuals, families and businesses are first class and current Answer #2: Our trained diverse FA (Financial Advisors) are able to go back to their own communities translating their knowledge into actions. This is done in several different ways based on prospects’ needs ranging from high end events to community seminars as well as through volunteering programs. Many of our FA in the Retirement Benefit Group who work with teachers (mostly women of color), nurses (mostly women) and municipalities work tirelessly to ensure their clients are financially protected for generations to come. The training our FA received is translated into education for our diverse prospects/clients for a better life. At AXA we put high priority in educating ourselves and our prospects and clients We created a Multicultural Directory that showcase our top 10 advisors in each of the 5 groups as well as our Field Advisory Council members.
National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors	Association or other industry group	Falls Church	VA	1890	not applicable	Advancing diversity and inclusion in the insurance and financial-services industry is at the heart of NAIFA’s vision for the future and a key component of the NAIFA 20/20 Strategic Plan. The Diversity and Inclusion initiative supports NAIFA’s 20/20 goal of empowering its members by broadening diversity, bolstering advocacy, developing top-notch training programs and increasing public awareness. For the past several years, NAIFA has been at the forefront of promoting and advancing inclusion and diversity in the financial-services industry. Here are a few of the programs the association has developed to achieve these goals: * NAIFA has created a Diversity Task Force to bring together enthusiastic NAIFA members who are dedicated to empowering agents and companies with strategies designed to attract a diverse work force that reflects the communities they serve. The task force’s goal is to empower NAIFA to become the industry leader and a key resource in diversity and diversity training and to create a more diverse membership that is reflective of the population that the members serve. * NAIFA has created a Diversity Champion Award, which recognizes exceptional efforts of members to promote the full and equal participation of diverse people within the insurance and financial-advising profession. * NAIFA has sponsored a Diversity Symposium, which brought together forward-thinking executives from the nation’s top financial firms to discuss the importance of having a diverse workforce and share strategies for making this happen. Speakers presented the business case for promoting diversity and inclusion, as well as facilitated discussion of how the industry can work together to move the needle forward in advancing diversity. Work is under way to host another Diversity and Inclusion Symposium in September 2018. NAIFA has created several Action Reports on diversity and Inclusion. These Action Reports or White Papers include: –Finding Success in Diverse Markets–a report that demonstrates how agents and advisors can sell succesfully to diverse markets. –Profiles in Success–a report that highlights successful female NAIFA members and the paths they took on their way to the top. –NAIFA’s 2017 Champions of Diversity Report–a report that shines the spotlight on NAIFA’s 2017 Diversity Champions and offers helpful hints for promoting diversity in organizations. NAIFA has also published several articles on diversity in its award-winning magazine, Advisor Today. * NAIFA is currently hosting a series of webinars on how to create and promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Lincoln Financial Network	Broker-Dealer	Philadelphia	PA	1905	not applicable	Lincoln Financial Network (LFN), part of Lincoln Financial Group, is committed to fostering diversity across our organization for employees, advisors and their clients. We pride ourselves in maintaining a culture of open and inclusive thought and perspectives, and always consider diversity when recruiting the best and brightest people in the industry. LFN participates in a company-wide diversity and inclusion effort led by the Lincoln Financial Group Diversity Council. Executive and advisor-level representatives provide oversight and direction for LFN’s diversity and inclusion strategy, set company-wide diversity priorities, commission diversity and inclusion task forces or action teams, and serve to link employees and all business functions. Among the programs supported by the Council is the signing of the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion and the Balanced Slate Process where each hiring manager commits to interviewing a final slate of five candidates, including at least one woman and one person of color. LFN leadership also works with internal groups of employees across Lincoln, known as Business Resource Groups (BRGs), assembled to represent a diverse constituency and identify opportunities to enhance Lincoln’s brand and market presence to consumers within that community. Most recently, representatives of LFN have partnered with Lincoln’s LGBTQ group to educate employees on the insurance and retirement products we offer to best serve the unique needs of that community. Our employees also support diversity and inclusion in partnership with Carry the Load, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing active, meaningful ways to honor and celebrate the sacrifices made by our nation’s heroes — military, law enforcement, firefighters and first responders. LFN has been actively involved with the charity for the past seven years with employees raising money and participating in the annual relay event to walk 6,000 miles to honor those who serve our country. LFN also developed and supports The WISE Group (Women Inspiring, Supporting and Educating), a grass roots organization within LFN with the mission of furthering the growth and development of women in the financial advisory industry and addressing the unique needs of female clients. WISE focuses on inspiring women to join the financial advisory industry through recruiting and development opportunities; supporting women advisors through formal mentoring programs and sharing of best practices; and educating women advisors by providing training to advance technical skills, coaching for presentations and sales meetings, and increasing overall expertise through networking opportunities to join special committees and sub-groups within the organization. Project Inspire, a WISE program, provides one-on-one mentoring across our office locations to promote next generation talent and use professional development modules to educate young people on careers in the financial services industry. To expand the impact of the mentoring program, WISE Group members follow-up and continue outreach to Project Inspire participants after the program concludes with the goal of increasing the number of women in the industry. The Group also conducts research to provide insights into female investors to increase financial planning opportunities for all advisors and to help meet the unique and changing needs of women.
T. Rowe Price Group	Asset manager	Baltimore	MD	1937	More than $200 million	The Equality Economy is proprietary research that focuses on understanding the LGBT+ community and their needs in reaching financial goals. The research examined the behaviors, growth, and investing clout of the LGBT+ community in the United States. The research was driven by PRIDE @ T. Rowe Price, a business resource group that aims to ensure all LGBT+ associates are comfortable with bringing their full selves to work every day. The group understood this was an untapped audience for advisors, and to fully understand specific sentiments about their financial goals, the group surveyed 1,300 adults age 21 and over who identified as LGBT+. All participants had a household income of at least $50,000 and investable assets of $25,000 or more. Overall, we learned that the LGBT+ community is self-reliant and is open to guidance but feels underserved. This proved to be a business opportunity, and by identifying an untapped audience, T. Rowe Price was able to provide advisors with the background necessary to engage and connect with the LGBT+ community. The research was not only a value-add component to advisors but it allowed T. Rowe Price to advance and align diversity inclusion as a business imperative. The size and buying power of the community makes it an important market for financial services. And the research helped to further identify the needs and behaviors of a new audience that could create a market impact that embeds inclusion and trust within the advisor-client relationship. Additionally, by having PRIDE @ T. Rowe Price spearhead the efforts, the methodology and research produced a tangible connection between business opportunity and the passion to better serve and represent the LGBT+ community. Link to The Equality Economy: https://www4.troweprice.com/gis/content/dam/fai/images/LGBTQ/TheEqualityEconomy.pdf