For many at the InvestmentNews 2025 Women to Watch Awards, the evening serves as a celebration of progress and a poignant reminder of how solitary the financial services industry once felt for women.
“When I came into the business in 1996, I was the only female in our entire office, and it would not be unusual to go to conferences and be among a very, very small group of women,” said The Jamrog Group CEO Amy Jamrog, winner of The Step Stone Group Award for Allyship Champion of the Year.
“I’m just so grateful that, fast forward almost 30 years, we go to conferences and we are represented, that there are big groups of us, and that it’s not as lonely as it used to be,” Jamrog said. “I think that’s the collective work of those of us who were in it decades ago to build something special for people coming into it.”
The October event was the sixth annual Women to Watch Awards hosted by InvestmentNews, which took place at Tribeca 360 in New York City. Earlier that day, the venue hosted IN’s Women Advisor Summit, with over 180 attendees and speakers from firms such as Merit Financial Advisors, Ameriprise, Osaic, and Beacon Pointe.
Stacy Francis, whose firm Francis Financial won the Fastest Growing Female Led Advisory Team award, acknowledged current economic and lifestyle conditions that prompt more women than ever to seek financial help. Francis, who started her firm in 2003, was also named Financial Literacy Champion, as the night’s only awardee to span wins across two categories.
“We’re seeing so many single moms come to us, individuals who are married but their partner may not be able to work because of disability or sickness. Struggling, scared, and really needing help,” said Francis. “Prices are higher than we’ve seen in many years because of continuing inflation. We’re also seeing that with housing [as well as] some softness in the job market.”
The “Great Wealth Transfer,” projected to total $124 trillion nationwide by 2048, is expected to be majority inherited by women − in the US they live an average of five years longer than men. The CFP Board says that 24 percent of Certified Financial Planner professionals are women; that figure has typically grown by a rate of 4 percent annually.
“I think that as the business grows and changes over time, we will more and more look like our clients, look like the people that we serve,” said Jamrog. “As women inherit and take over the significant wealth in this country, they want to work with female advisors.”
Few women advisors have witnessed the industry change as much as Margaret Starner, winner of The Alexandra Armstrong Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Financial Services Industry, who was honored by Armstrong herself. Now 87 years old, Starner founded The Starner Group of Raymond James in 1981 when she reentered the workforce after spending 15 years as a stay-at-home mother raising her children.
“One of the things that I think is really important is women have harder choices to make when they have a career, and so I try to work with women to say, I was a stay-at-home mom for 15 years, so I know what it’s like to start later,” Starner said. “And because we live longer, you can afford to start later.”
Starner remains senior vice president and financial planner at the Miami-based Starner Group, managing nearly $2 billion in client assets.
“I’m very partial to the fact that I think both genders are really important to a team, mainly because we see things a little bit differently, but it doesn’t mean anybody is wrong,” said Starner. “There’s a greater recognition by everyone that I know that it’s important to have men and women on a team.”
Winners at the Women to Watch Awards held October 21 also included Marianne Caswell of Park Avenue Securities, recipient of the Executive Excellence Award; Isabelle Freidheim of Athena Capital, honored with the Osaic Award for Female Trailblazer of the Year; and Amplified Planning, recognized for Excellence in Gender, Diversity & Inclusion. Agnieszka Valenta of Retirement Income Source SFG won the Orion Award for Rising Star Advisor of the Year.
Additional winners included Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., named Employer of Choice; Kristin Hull of Nia Impact Capital, awarded Portfolio Manager of the Year; and Mosaic at Raymond James, recognized for Excellence in Philanthropy & Community Service.
Accepting the Employer of Choice award on behalf of Cambridge was Audrey Hixson, assistant vice president of service experience. The Iowa native first joined Cambridge in 2006 at 19 years old. Hixson, a mom to six-year-old twins, was also named to this year’s InvestmentNews Rising Stars list that recognized top financial services leaders under the age of 40.
“I feel like Cambridge has set the bar right out of the gate. Our CEO [Amy Webber] is a woman, and she was president when I first started. We really promote women in leadership at Cambridge, so I’ve been very fortunate to not know much different,” said Hixson. “Cambridge has invested in me.”
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