What does the financial services industry stand for? Not the stereotypes you’re thinking of

I’m so pleased that LinkedIn and CNBC teamed up to shed further light on the critical topic of diversity in finance and the barriers women face in our industry via the "Closing The Gap: Women in Finance" survey. It's critically important to put a prominent light on this issue to raise awareness and spur needed action. While progress has been made, the findings point to a number of obstacles the industry must continue to focus on to achieve greater progress.

I’ve stated before that we need to stare down and change the traditional Wall Street stereotypes of what the financial services industry stands for. For example, our mission at Fidelity is to help improve the financial futures of millions of hard working Americans who turn to us for help with their savings and investments so they can build a better future for themselves and their families. These men and women — of different ethnicities and ages — all need our help, and the significant demographic changes underway underscore the importance of diverse and inclusive perspectives.

Let’s consider two illustrative demographic changes regarding women — by 2020, women investors will have accumulated $22 trillion in wealth through inheritance and advancement in the workplace1, and today nearly ?’s of all women in the workforce are millennials2. Combine this with the fact that not enough women have gravitated to financial services as a place to grow their careers as roughly 15% of licensed financial professionals are women3. This gap must be changed. Our industry needs to attract more women — be it advisors, technologists, marketers and leaders.

We've made this a top priority at Fidelity. We've created a range of programs and policies to attract more women to careers in our industry, including more relevant benefits programs, enhanced training and skills development, leadership development programs, more flexible work hours, and more meaningful diversity and inclusion programs – efforts that can help all employees. All of this change is incredibly energizing and I feel strongly that there’s never been a more exciting time to work in financial services – at any level – and build a career that offers the chance to help clients in a tangible way while also driving changes that will impact the industry forever.

As I look back at my career, I’m proud of the hard work I’ve put in and, more importantly, of the impact I’ve had in helping clients improve their financial futures. I’m also extremely grateful to the many who have supported and taken chances on me along the way to make that possible. My leadership path in financial services would not have happened without the active support of bosses who saw potential in me and gave me opportunities to grow, develop and challenge myself to reach my full potential. That’s why I’m so passionate about development and mentorship programs and the opportunity we have to elevate and improve the whole industry.

There’s no question that diverse, inclusive businesses will be much better positioned to thrive in this changing landscape. We recognize the opportunity to continue enhancing our culture of inclusion for our clients, colleagues, and the communities in which we live. We're deeply committed to this mission and the important goal of creating a more diverse workforce that helps people reach their greatest potential.

#TheFinanceGap

#ClosingTheGap

#FidelityAssociate

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Views expressed are as of June 26, 2018. Unless otherwise noted, the opinions provided are those of the author and not necessarily those of Fidelity Investments. Links to third-party content may be shared on this page. Third-party information provided are unaffiliated with Fidelity. Fidelity has not been involved in the preparation of the content supplied via the link(s) and does not guarantee or assume any responsibility for its content.

Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC

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1.     Federal Reserve

2.     UNC Maximizing Millennials in the Workplace

3.     The Cerulli Report / U.S. Advisor Metrics 2017