FlexShares Survey Finds Growing Consumer Preference for Financial Advisors of Similar Demographic

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[{"type":"text","content":" CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nNorthern Trust Asset Management’s FlexShares® Exchange Traded Funds today announced the results of its second diverse teams survey, which found that consumers increasingly prefer having a financial advisor of the same racial, gender and age profile as their own. This trend reinforces the need for financial advisory firms to address the disconnect between what the industry currently looks like and changing U.S. demographics. The survey was conducted earlier this year, just less than two years after the initial one in 2019.\n\nThe joint survey of financial advisors and consumers found that among individuals who work with an advisor, clients are significantly more likely than those in 2019 to have a preference on their advisor’s age (61% vs 31%), gender (38% vs 12%) and race (34% vs 8%). This is largely due to wanting an advisor of the same demographic. For example, among consumers that indicated an advisor’s gender is important – 72% attribute it to wanting an advisor of their own gender. Women today are five times more likely than men to use a female advisor, up from four times in 2019.\n\nDiversity Programs Support Hiring Success\n\nAs consumers increasingly prefer to work with an advisor of a similar profile, many advisory firms are making a concerted effort to diversify their talent pool. Firms are primarily looking to better connect with diverse clients, widen the pool of potential financial advisor candidates, and add unique perspectives to the thinking of the firm. Today, more firms consider “increasing the diversity of staff” a strategic priority than in 2019 (52% vs 45%). Furthermore, among the 66% of firms surveyed that are actively recruiting, a majority (55%) are looking for diverse talent across all seniority levels.\n\nEfforts to make recruiting more inclusive have led to hiring success – a key strategic priority for firms preparing talent needs for the next generation. More than three-quarters (77%) of firms taking action on diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) report success in hiring new professional talent, versus 56% of those firms that do not have initiatives in place. Moreover, more than half of respondents (58%) say that their DE&I program has been a selling point in attracting new hires.\n\n“Advisory firms of all types need to match their workforces to better reflect the curren...

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