'It's still a bit of a man's world,' but times are changing, says this SVP
Conference speaker and chief people officer at Aviso Wealth Sherri Evans spoke exclusively to Wealth Professional about the challenges and opportunities that women face in the wealth industry.
Evans, who spoke at the recent Women in Wealth Management Summit said that employers in the wealth industry can find it hard to attract and retain talented women throughout their careers.
“The challenge that faces this industry is keeping women interested or engaged enough to continue through their career path,” she said.
Many women join the financial industry, only to be put off by the male culture.
“You quickly realize it's still a bit of a man's world. That's changing, but even I think the world of work has been set up to benefit men. It was set up by men for men” said Evans.
Reflecting on her own experience, she said that it can be hard to be heard as a woman in the financial industry.
“I've been the only woman at the table. It's tough sometimes to be heard,” she said.
“I found sometimes I had to leverage my male colleagues, some of the more progressive male colleagues that I've got great relationships with them to get them to bring an idea to the table”.
Evans said that over the years, things have shifted and there's been more accommodation provided for women to balance careers and families, especially at Aviso Wealth, where she’s currently leading the HR and people strategy.
Aviso Wealth is one of the only financial services firms in Canada with more women than men on its leadership team, a feat that she credits the CEO, William (Bill) Packham with.
“He truly is a smart guy. He has worked in this industry with mostly men, I suspect, throughout his career. He was unbiased enough to be able to pick in his opinion who was going to be the most successful, and that said a lot,” she said.
With Packham’s support, Aviso Wealth has a strong diversity and inclusion program, which is focused on making people feel valued.
“You can be as diverse as you want. You can bring people in and showcase them and say, ‘Look, we've got women. We've got people who aren't white.’… but if you don't do something to make them actually feel that they are valued, that they are included, that what they bring to the table is something that's important, they will leave” she said.
