Prudential Wealth Advisors teams up with InvestmentNews for Women Advisor Summit and Women to Watch Awards

Prudential Wealth Advisors has teamed up with InvestmentNews as the headline event partner for the Women Advisor Summit and the Women to Watch Awards in November.

The wealth management arm of insurance giant Prudential is no stranger to InvestmentNews events, having also been the event partner for the InvestmentNews awards in June.

“I think it's important that we help more women come into the industry,” Mike Klein, chief marketing officer at Prudential Wealth Advisors, told InvestmentNews. “I think we've been lacking in this industry.”

“A lot of people talk about it, but this was really a chance for us to take some action and just help the industry as a whole, hopefully,” he added.

The financial advisory industry has long been male-dominated. Women represent 26% of practicing financial advisors according to research released earlier this year 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.

"Future growth, I think really relies on, depends on attracting, developing, and 100% elevating diverse talent and leadership," said Klein.

Formerly Prudential Advisors, the company rebranded to Prudential Wealth Advisors this week, in a move designed to reflect its focus on advisors and their clients. "Our move into wealth is, in fact, one of the reasons we were so excited to sponsor the InvestmentNews awards earlier this year," Klein told InvestmentNews. "We feel we have a very strong value proposition, backed of course by Prudential and in partnership with LPL, and have a lot to offer experienced wealth managers out there and their clients."

The Women Advisor Summit will feature more than 20 speakers across more than 10 content sessions. More than 200 attendees from the wealth management industry are expected to attend the event.

Featured speakers include Racquel Oden, US head of wealth, premier and global private banking at HSBC, Carolyn McClanahan, founder of Life Planning Partners, Stacy Francis, CEO of Francis Financial, Cathy Curtis, founder and wealth partner at Curtis Financial Planning, Cecilia Williams, chief operating officer at Halbert Hargrove, Liz Miller, president and founder of Summit Place Financial Advisors, and Lisa Roberts, head of wealth management at Wilmington Trust.

The opening keynote from Oden will focus on the future of advice, which includes the forces shaping wealth management today, how client expectations are evolving, and the key things that will differentiate successful firms over the next decade. 

Other sessions at the event will tackle topics such as “winning the new majority” and building stronger relationships with women clients, AI, strategies for improving client experience and accelerating growth, and developing and retaining top talent.

There will also be a fireside chat with Cathy Curtis of Curtis Financial Planning, Shannon Larson, president of AE Wealth Management, and Cary Carbonaro, managing wealth advisor at Ashton Thomas Private Wealth that will address leadership lessons learned through challenges and change, as well as strategies to sustain success.

The Summit will conclude with the Women to Watch awards. 

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to attend the Women Advisor Summit on Nov. 5. Register now.