Breaking the bias in the financial services industry: Salma Garde

March 8 is International Women’s Day and to celebrate our female colleagues at ATB Wealth, we’re featuring three women who have forged successful careers in a male-dominated industry. Find out how they’ve been able to #BreaktheBias and navigate the financial services sector to achieve their goals.?

Meet Salma

Name: Salma Garde

Position: Senior Financial Advisor?

Designations: PFP, CFP, FCSI

Years in industry: 19 years

Why did you pursue a career in the financial sector??

My father was a retired bank executive in India, and growing up, I was always fascinated by his job, roles and responsibilities. After I immigrated to Canada, I was looking for an opportunity to work in the financial sector. What got me interested in this sector was some of my own challenges I faced in trying to understand and shape the finances of my young family.?

Understanding the different financial programs was not easy and in my experience often not well and easily explained. This initiated my interest to learn more, by directly participating in the process, so that I could relay and impart the same education to my clients and help them make the most informed decision. I was immensely excited to join the Customer Care Centre at ATB in 2001.?

My first team leader said to me that I had the opportunity to build my destiny to achieve my goals. While at that time I had no idea of what my dreams would be, as a financial advisor, I have the most fulfilling job that one can ever hope for; helping clients achieve their dreams has truly evolved into my dream job.

Describe your education and career path to your current position. What were the opportunities and challenges along the way?

I have my master of business degree and a degree in economics. After immigrating to Canada and while working at ATB, I quickly realized that I needed to get some designations under my belt to help clients with their financial needs. In the 19 years with ATB, my career path took me through several roles starting as a customer care specialist at the call centre to personal banking specialist (helping clients with accounts, lending and investments) to a more dedicated role in investments in 2005. One of my early mentors helped me identify that my strength was in relationship building and advising clients. I began an earnest journey to self learn through the Canadian Securities Institute and from 2003 to 2009 wrote a number of exams including the IFC, CSC, WME, PFP. After becoming a senior financial advisor in 2007, I enrolled in the certified financial planning program and successfully completed my designation as a Chartered Financial Planner.?

Learning is an integral part of my advising journey and really helps me elevate my client’s experience. My role within ATB has created the opportunity to advance my career by enhancing my learning and I feel fortunate to have worked in several roles within the firm as it helps me understand a more holistic picture of my client’s situation. The challenges I faced were trying to create a work-life balance, managing a growing book of business and addressing the needs of a young family while navigating some of the most difficult exams in the investment and planning space.??

The theme for International Women’s Day 2022 is Break the Bias. What are some of the biases and barriers you’ve encountered as a woman in finance, and how have you overcome them?

It is quite apparent that men outnumber women in finance, specifically the role of a financial advisor. The ratio of men to women in any conferences, events, award ceremonies and even those chosen as wealth management professional winners is significantly skewed in favour of men. The executives heading wealth departments are also noticeably men.?

In the initial years of advising when I felt that I needed to boost my own self confidence in a male-dominated industry, I found equipping myself with advanced learning was an extremely useful way to improve my own practice. My end goal was to remain customer focused and I was obsessed with the need to continuously do my best. This made me break away from any bias and create the best version of myself so that I could be a great fit for my clients. I shifted my focus to my philosophy in life and my ultimate goal of being a friend, philosopher and guide for my clients while building a strong and comfortable ongoing relationship on a solid foundation of trust.?

Being a woman in an advisory role has helped me lead from the heart to the head, build empathy and be a true listener. This has been particularly true in the last few years when the pandemic tore through our normal lives and created several disruptions also at an emotional level.?

As a woman, I also have the advantage of creating a strong base of women clientele who need to be acknowledged as themselves and to discuss issues that matter the most to them.

Ultimately I want to be the “advisor of choice” for my clients based on my skills and merits and rise above all biases.

What’s the best part of your job and working at ATB?

I truly enjoy being a trusted advisor for my clients. Over the years I am grateful to the clients who have chosen to work with me and for the trust they have placed in me. Helping clients shape their financial future with success is truly the most gratifying part of my advisory journey. I also thrive in challenging circumstances—taking complex client scenarios and breaking them down to more simple and manageable solutions creates an extra level of satisfaction. Finance is often not intuitive for everyone. So as a wealth management professional, I am happy to impart my knowledge and educate clients to stay informed on the decisions they make.

ATB has given me the space to explore being the “advisor of the future.” We have a great team here. Our Wealth business has a smart woman at the helm as our CEO, and our management team has a great blend of both men and women who are extremely competent. I enjoy ATB’s culture of being customer obsessed. Our approach is nimble and we are leaders in the way we reimagine our wealth management business.

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To celebrate International Women’s Day and the tremendous contributions of our female colleagues at ATB, we featured five of our incredible leaders, including our very own Ursula Holmsten, CEO of ATB Wealth. We asked them to share a quote they lean on for inspiration to #BreaktheBias, this year’s theme for International Women’s Day. Read the full article here.