PLANADVISER - March/April 2020 - 25

'Chocolate Chips in Vanilla Ice Cream'
Lee V. Bethel, president at Comprehensive Benefit Services
Inc., and associated with LPL Financial, in Washington, D.C.,
has been in the advisory business for over 30 years. He talks
about his experience at financial conferences: " More often
than not, I'll be one of the few African Americans there.
And it sometimes takes a minute, I don't want to say 'to
be accepted,' but for people to realize you're there because
you're qualified to be there. " He says minorities attending
conferences often connect with each other but feel overwhelmed
by the sea of other advisers.
The image Bethel uses- " chocolate chips in vanilla ice
cream " -to describe being one in a sea of others resonates
with Zemaitis, who notes that she has shared that with
leaders at LPL. Now that she is aware, " I can't go to a conference
ever again and not see that visual. So, it's helpful for
those who may not see that. "
Bethel has nine professional designations. He says, " I
did that for two reasons: one, to show that I can be qualified
at what I do, and two, to show my clients that we've
taken the time to arm ourselves with the education to be
as knowledgeable as possible so we can guide them in an
advisory capacity. "
The 2019 Elite Advisor Poll by BNY Mellon's Pershing
surveyed advisory firm leaders and revealed that 59%
of those at the country's most pre-eminent registered
investment adviser (RIA) and institutional
firms are satisfied with their
efforts to hire women or ethnic minorities; 41% are " not
entirely satisfied. "
When it comes to implementing initiatives that will help
them reach and attract a diverse talent pool, advisory firms
still have work to do, according to the poll. Twenty-eight
percent of respondents are expanding recruiting efforts
to include schools with a more diverse student base; 2%
are measuring progress on diversity; 9% are offering diversity
training; and 14% are reviewing job descriptions to
remove any unconscious biases from the hiring and development
process. Forty-seven percent, however, take none
of these initiatives.
So how can firms increase diversity, specifically in the
area of ethnic minorities? " One of the main ways is by proactively
creating a diverse professional network and cultivating
it over time, " says Christina Townsend, managing director
and head of adviser solutions platform strategy at Pershing
in Philadelphia. " By cultivating, welcoming and advancing
people who have a variety of backgrounds and experiences,
we can make our companies stronger, more competitive and
ever more resilient. "
An Indirect Career Path
Rickie Taylor, a black regional director at Retirement Plan
Consultants in Philadelphia, broke into his career indirectly,
after, in 1997, a Prudential adviser at a career fair tried to
recruit him. " I was pre-med, but I scored in the top 25% in
the country on a [financial] aptitude test. "
planadviser.com March-April 2020 | 25
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PLANADVISER - March/April 2020

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