Prudential Advisors has teamed up with InvestmentNews as the headline event partner for the glitzy InvestmentNews Awards next month, as well as the Women Advisor Summit and the Women to Watch Awards later this year.
“The sponsorship for all three is really about recognizing excellence across the wealth management industry, specifically at a time when we feel the industry is going through a lot of change,” Mike Klein, Chief Marketing Officer at Prudential Advisors, told InvestmentNews. “And Prudential Advisors itself is evolving in lots of important ways along with the industry - we've been continuing our transformation towards a true wealth management business model.”
“We're focused on helping our advisors deliver financial solutions across investments, protection, retirement estate and tax considerations,” he added.
Prudential Advisors, which is the wealth management arm of insurance giant Prudential, has 3,000 advisors.
Klein told InvestmentNews that recognition is important for everyone in the wealth management industry. “We work really hard in this industry,” he said. “Personally and professionally, I love these types of awards to just take a minute, take a breath and just recognize all the great work that's happening.”
“Every other industry does it. And I think it's great that we do it too,” he added.
The InvestmentNews awards is taking place on June 24 and returns to the Edison Ballroom near New York’s Times Square. Now in its third year, the event continues to grow – this year the industry’s stars will receive awards spanning 25 individual and organizational categories.
Hundreds of nominations have been received for the awards, which have been shortlisted to about 150 finalists.
Klein is also looking forward to Prudential Advisors’ involvement in the Women Advisor Summit and the Women to Watch awards later this year. “When we found out about those two events, it was actually a really easy decision for us because it's consistent with how we think internally of Prudential Advisors and how we think about our advisor base and our talent and our local leadership support,” he said. "But future growth, I think really relies on, depends on attracting, developing, and 100% elevating diverse talent and leadership.”
“I think there are far fewer women in the industry than there should be,” he added.
The financial advisory industry has long been male-dominated. Women represent 26% of practicing financial advisors according to recent research released by AdvizorPro, although this representation varies dramatically depending on where advisors work. Broker-dealers, for example, have approximately 31% female representation, while wirehouses are at 30.6%, and hybrid advisors are at approximately 25%. RIAs lag behind those other parts of the wealth management industry, with roughly 18% to 20% female representation, according to AdvizorPro.
The Women Advisor Summit and the Women to Watch Awards, which honor the most influential women in wealth management, will be taking place on Nov. 5 at 583 Park Avenue in New York City.
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