Financial institutions are missing an important element of providing an effective service for clients from diverse backgrounds.
Edward Jones asked attendees at its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Conference this week, including financial advisors, client support team members and home office associates, for their insights and found that 54% of client-facing qualifiers said providing financial education resources is the most important step that financial institutions can take to meet the needs of current and prospective diverse clients.
However, 49% said that they don’t believe that FIs are meeting these needs.
“When we equip our branch teams with the right resources to support all of our clients, including their unique life experiences and backgrounds, we can create lasting financial strength and growth,” said Jennifer Kingston, head of Enterprise Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Edward Jones.
Respondents also said that communicating with empathy helps them overcome cross-cultural or cross-generational gaps and that they want the tools to help them do this, especially with the prospective client pool becoming increasingly diverse.
“There is an urgency to provide greater personalized and more inclusive client service that extends cross-cultural understanding. That starts from within,” said Kingston. “Our colleagues are our greatest asset. Whether they are building relationships with their clients or seeking connection professionally to grow in their skills, our overarching goal is to be a place where every colleague feels valued, respected, seen, and heard.”
Building personal development skills and receiving mentorship were both cited by diverse associates as being important to focus on early in their careers.
A $141M judgment and a federal asset freeze collide over one shrinking pool
The firm's CFO and EVP of Wealth Management Solutions are the latest executives to exit the broker-dealer.
Clients are saying they would consider switching advisors if another professional offered estate planning services, according to a new Trust & Will survey.
CEO Laurel Taylor says the fintech's composable AI stack helps workers optimize dollars across Trump Accounts, 529s, 401(k)s, and other employee benefits.
The bank has swiped three private banking veterans from BNY as the city climbs the ranks of America's fastest-growing wealth hubs.
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
Direct indexing is on pace to outgrow ETFs and mutual funds. Northern Trust's Ken Lassner explains why the advisors who get it wish they had started sooner.
