With an aging workforce but also facing a huge inter-generational wealth transfer, the sector needs to change how it hires and retains talent.

RBC Wealth Management-US is telling stories by video of how it is widening the range of people who join the industry, following its move last year to expand its net in the war for talent.

The videos are designed to support and amplify a host of new initiatives put in place over the past few years to increase the pipeline of talent to RBC Wealth Management. The documentary-style videos feature executives, financial advisors and client associates reflecting on their backgrounds, journeys to and through RBC Wealth Management, and relationships and choices that made a difference to them along the way. 

As reported last year, the firm overhauled its Associate Financial Advisor training program to allow more “diverse” candidates – from inside and outside the financial services industry – to join the firm and follow a career in the sector. A person who may have had a career in a sector entirely unconnected to financial services can enrol. A number of major banking groups in the US and further afield are developing programs, some of them to be more diverse in terms of attracting more women, people from different ethnic groups and some from outside conventional educational or career paths.

The stakes are high. With $30 trillion of assets estimated to be shifting to the next generation over the next decade, the need for sound advice is clear. But who is going to advise on this switch? The wealth sector, arguably, has a big image problem: it’s dominated by established finance professionals, overwhelmingly male, middle aged and middle class. Figures from Cerulli Associates, the analytics and research firm, find that the average age of wealth advisors is 50 while only 11.7 per cent of them are under 35, raising concerns that as Millennials age and move into prime positions in business and other walks of life, there will be a problem. There is definitely a gender inequality: women represent only 15.7 per cent of the 310,504 financial advisors in the industry across the US (source: Cerulli Associates).

"When I was a child in Kolkata, India, I dreamed of living and working in the United States. I attended graduate school in Ohio and came to work for RBC Wealth Management about 18 years ago. During my time here, the company has provided unmatched support for my personal and professional development,” Vikesh Nemani, chief administrative officer for RBC Wealth Management-US and one of the subjects featured in the series, said. 

RBC cited industry research which continues to show that financial services, including wealth management, fall short in cultivating a workforce that reflects the diversity of the US. In fact, according to the 2018 Securities Industry and Financial Markets (SIFMA) Diversity Survey, only 24 per cent of financial services employees are from minority groups. 

“Those stats are even worse for the wealth management industry where minorities represent only 12 per cent of financial advisor roles, according to the SIFMA survey. African Americans and Hispanic Americans are particularly underrepresented, despite their growing relative percentage in the working-age population,” the firm said.

The latest videos build upon an earlier set launched in September 2017 that featured female advisors sharing personal stories about their journey to the wealth management industry and encouraging more women to follow suit. RBC said the campaign prompted more than a thousand inquiries from women and diverse candidates who wanted to learn more about financial services professions.