By 21st century standards, the financial services industry is woefully lacking in women professionals, numbering only one or two in 10. It’s a trend that industry leader Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MSSB) wants to stop with a bold new initiative.

MSSB’s Houston offices have teamed together to form the Women’s Advisory Council, a firm-wide prototype, aimed at attracting not only more women financial advisors, but also women clients who represent an astounding $14 to $20 trillion opportunity in assets.

“From a purely commercial standpoint, women are growing exponentially as a potential client base,” said Lisa Cregan, managing director and manager of MSSB’s Houston Post Oak Complex.

“We believe that when it comes to financial and wealth planning, women and men approach the process differently and part of the mission of our Women’s Advisory Council is to help educate our advisors on how they can be more effective in helping our women clients achieve their financial goals and in understanding the complexities of their lives.” 

“There seems to be a big disconnect as to why more women are not in the financial services industry,” said Kirstin Turner, senior vice president and branch manager of MSSB’s downtown Houston   office. “Women comprise 50 percent of stock market investors, more than 50 percent of all new small business owners, and yet their presence in the financial services industry is still running at about eight to 12 percent.

”MSSB’s Women’s Advisory Council is a culturally diverse body of 10 Houston-based financial advisors. The Council’s mission is to create events in the Houston market that help develop and enhance the careers of current MSSB women financial advisors who can then serve as role models and mentors to new women advisor candidates – thereby branding MSSB as the firm of choice for women advisors and clients.Because of the grassroots efforts of the council, Houston was selected by MSSB’s home office to be a focus city and prototype for this project. 

“Houston is one of the few large market places that have two women leaders, and we have quite a large proportion of successful women advisors,” explained Turner. “And they thought; it’s working here, so let’s find out why."

MSSB’s goal is to help its advisors listen better to their women clients’ needs and acknowledge the important role their families and relationships play in their lives. At the same time, the firm believes a career as a financial advisor is tailor-made for women, since clients want advisors who care about their family relationships. Advisor positions do offer flexibility because they are essentially run as one’s own business under the auspices of a global firm, while offering the same pay rate for both men and women.

“The irony is there are so few women in our industry, but we think it’s such a perfect career for women because clients want people who can empathize with them, and women are natural nurturers and empathizers,” Turner pointed out.

“In addition, many people don’t understand that once you’ve established your practice, you can on- and off-ramp your career based on family, without leaving the workforce,” said Cregan.

MSSB’s Women’s Advisory Council has held a series of events to help attract women to the financial services industry, including sponsoring tables and inviting clients to the annual luncheon of the Women’s Resource Center of Houston, a group that provides financial               literacy education to under-privileged women. The Council is also the sole sponsor of the Women’s Resource Center Briefing Breakfast held in October. The event features keynote speaker Michael Stein, MSSB’s global head of government relations, who will present a Washington update on continuing budget talks.

MSSB also sponsored the Texas Southern University Women Rise Conference  – a conference with workshops led by professionals in health, wealth and education. Attended by more than 150 African-American women, the conference was designed to empower women and recognize 10 outstanding attendees for excellence in service to women and families. Another event partnered MSSB with the asset management firm Invesco Ltd. to create an educational and networking opportunity for all women advisors in Houston. MSSB also conducted a financial advisor training program with Guggenheim Funds called “The $14-Trillion Opportunity – The Essential Guide to Engaging the Female Client,” helping advisors better understand the nuances of the female investor.

“These events help educate people on how to approach women differently than men,” Cregan pointed out.

Cregan notes Wall Street as a whole has failed in trying to change its culture in a way that attracts women clients and advisors.

“Our firm has really taken the time to understand women by performing surveys and research,” she explained. “This, in an effort to understand what’s important to us from both an employee and client standpoint and what needs changing, so we are an attractive place for women clients and employees.”

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, a global leader in wealth management, provides access to a wide range of products and services to individuals, businesses and institutions, including brokerage and investment advisory services, financial and wealth planning, credit and lending, cash management, annuities and insurance, retirement and trust services.

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