PLANADVISER - July/August 2021 - 13

Women in C-Suite Roles
They're underrepresented, but progress is being made
ON THE MOVE
➜ Empower Retirement
will acquire Prudential
Financial Inc.'s fullservice
retirement
business. The transaction
is expected to close in
the first half of next year.
➜ Mesirow Financial
Holdings Inc. selected
Natalie A. Brown as its
new president. In this role,
Brown will work closely
with Richard S. Price,
Mesirow's chairman and
CEO, on all facets of
corporate strategy.
A HARVARD Business School study found
that, among senior roles in venture capital
and private equity firms, just 9% and 6% of
such jobs, respectively, were occupied by
women. In hedge funds, only 11% of senior
management roles were held by women.
And, according to Deloitte, women's
overall representation in financial firms'
senior management is just 22%, despite
the fact that they make up about 50% of
the financial services industry as a whole.
Even if the relatively small representation
means it is a slow progression, women
have already made important strides in
this sector. Many said they felt encouraged
when Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, earlier
this year, became the first woman to head
a major U.S. bank, while Thasunda Brown
Duckett, a former JP Morgan Chase executive
and a woman of color, was recently
named CEO of TIAA.
During a 2021 California Public
Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS)
and California State Teachers' Retirement
System (CalSTRS) diversity forum,
Duckett advised companies to assess their
talent pool and recognize the privilege
that male workers have compared with
women and underrepresented communities,
especially in senior roles.
" We as leaders have to believe that
talent is created equally, but opportunity
is not, " Duckett said during the panel
" Diversity Dialogue: From the C-Suite. " " If
we believe it, then we have to understand
our processes and support
the policies
that accelerate our progress. If we don't,
we'll be able to make excuses as to why
there are not more women in our pipeline. "
Adviser and wealth manager Renee
Pastor, founder of The Pastor Financial
Group, says she sees encouraging progress
being made relative to when she began
her career in the 1980s. " I'm seeing a lot
of young, smart, energetic women who are
entering this business, " she says. " We've
been ignored as potential, successful
advisers, but, when you look around, there
are many successful women advisers. "
Pastor attributes these changes to a
shift in mindset on the part of recruiters
and businesses-and across society at
large. Awareness and activism calling out
gender bias and unequal pay have finally
become the norm, she says.
" Those who recruit into this industry
haven't been looking to recruit women-
this was a man's world, " explains Pastor.
" Slowly, they have figured out that we are
good in this role. " -Amanda Umpierrez
➜ Aon plc and Willis
Towers Watson (WTW)
have terminated their
merger agreement and
ended litigation with the
Department of Justice.
➜ Principal Financial
Group has named
Shawn Johnson as chief
information officer of the
company's retirement
and income solutions
business. He will be
responsible for the
business' technology
and digital strategies.
➜ HSBC Asset
Management is taking a
minority stake in Radiant
ESG, a women-owned,
environmental, social
and governance, and
diversity-and-inclusionfocused
consulting firm
located in East Bay,
California.
Art by Irene Servillo
planadviser.com July-August 2021 | 13
➜
http://www.planadviser.com
PLANADVISER - July/August 2021

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