The financial advice industry has traditionally been a male-dominated profession, so it’s time to work together and support initiatives like the AFA & TAL Female Excellence in Advice Award to work on bridging the gap, and creating a brighter future for all.
Peita Diamantidis, winner of the 2016 Female Excellence in Advice Award, puts it like this. “Women are 50% of the population, but under-represented in financial planning. When choosing a planner, I think that the public deserves choice – be that different ages, different cultural backgrounds, different languages, or having the option to have either a male or female, if that’s something that is important to them. Until there are more female planners, I think we’ll struggle to engage with the Australian public as a whole.”
Changing the future of the advice profession
With this imbalance in mind, the Female Excellence in Advice Award was set up in 2011 as a joint initiative between TAL and the AFA to recognise the achievements of talented women in the advice profession.
Niall McConville, General Manager, Retail Distribution at TAL says, “The award is an opportunity to celebrate the female advisers leading the way and encourage the next generation of female advisers.”
This year’s award will be launched at the 2017 Inspire Roadshow from 15 to 25 May. A recent highlight on the adviser calendar, the roadshow will feature inspiring speakers including Peita Diamantidis, on what it means to have won the award, and Lynne Schinella, on overcoming challenges to find your voice.
Financial advisers can nominate themselves for the award, or be nominated by peers or clients. With a $15,000 TAL education prize for the winner, it can be a transformative way for female advisers to build their profile, gain deeper career insights and make valuable connections.
Changing the futures of your clients
Recognising outstanding female advisers isn’t just about upping the numbers, it’s also essential if we want more of the community to really engage with their finances.
There are differences between men and women at both the client and the adviser level. Men and women seek financial advice for different reasons, and as advisers, women offer a variety of attributes including the ability to connect empathetically with clients to find the best solutions.
It’s only by increasing the number of women in the industry that we’ll succeed in empowering more people, including women, to take control of their financial destiny.
Shaping tomorrow together
Somewhat ironically, the Female Excellence in Advice Award is designed to bring about its own demise, by promoting gender equality to a point where it’s no longer necessary.
As Peita Diamantidis says, “I look forward to a future where there’s such diversity in our profession that an award like this would seem out of place, rather than something necessary to provide a spotlight on the problem.”
By working together, achieving diversity is something we can look forward to sooner rather than later.
We encourage all advisers to join us at the 2017 Inspire Roadshow as we launch this exciting award.
