RBC Wealth Management has hired two new managers to oversee the firm’s operations at its Houston Galleria branch and the Denver Tech branch.
Recruiting Amy Whittington in Houston and Angelica Nelson in Denver is part of RBC’s plan to bring more women into the firm in a variety of roles, including in leadership positions.
“RBC Wealth Management is committed to attracting more women to the firm. Amy and Angelica are proven leaders who are committed to growing their branches and increasing advisor productivity,” Kristen Kimmell, RBC’s chief of staff said in a statement. “Adding more women to leadership positions is good for the industry, good for our business but most of all, good for our clients.”
Women make up only 16% of all financial advisors in the U.S., according to data from Cerulli.
But firms have been working to increase gender parity, launching specialized programs and initiatives.
RBC recently launched a new training program for associate financial advisors. The goal is to bring in more diverse candidates, including women, and offer these individuals training, mentorship and support to pursue a career as an advisor.
Part of Whittington’s goal at her branch is to increase diversity and bring on more women through an already established mentorship initiative that RBC calls the Women’s Association of Financial Advisors or WAFA. The aim of this employee resource group is to provide support for the recruitment and retention of women in financial advisor and branch leadership roles.
-
Like other broker-dealers, the firm is far from achieving a ratio of 50/50 men-and-women planners.
April 10 -
Advisors say they are becoming more dissatisfied with the way wirehouses are managed.
June 1 -
While American women earn only 82 cents for every dollar men earn, the wage gap is far greater for female planners.
April 9
“I think having both women and men within a branch or an organization brings balance,” Whittington says. “I think it’s more about having that balance than anything because both sides bring different points of the view to the table. Obviously [women] see things much differently when it comes to relationships in general and finance in general and how we handle those.”
Whittington joins RBC with more than 20 years of industry experience, and most recently was the founder of Optic Financial Solutions, a consulting firm which worked with regional and wirehouse advisors, advisory teams, RIA’s, independent broker-dealers and financial companies.
“I believe that being a part of RBC and a bigger organization that is really driving to help through the community and diversity and supporting advisors and putting clients first — I feel like I have a better opportunity to help more people,” Whittington says.
Nelson joins RBC with 18 years of industry experience. She comes from Scottrade/TD Ameritrade where she led successful branch offices and played an instrumental part in leading changes in management initiatives for both firms in an elected board position.
“My passion is working with financial advisors and consultants to facilitate growth with new and existing clients, as well as managing, coaching, training and educating teams to enrich their asset gathering, leadership and sales skills,” Nelson said in an emailed statement. She was not available to comment directly.
