BMO Nesbitt Burns is reaching out to prospective employees with a new Web page aimed at attracting female investment advisers.AARON HARRIS/Reuters
Female financial advisers are a hot commodity among wealth and asset management companies seeking more female clients, and one bank's capital markets business is turning online to recruit new candidates.
BMO Nesbitt Burns is reaching out to prospective employees with a new Web page aimed at attracting female investment advisers to guide clients on their investments, financial and planning and philanthropy, among other things.
The bank said it is particularly interested in hiring women in financial services and its investment advisory channel. The company wants to boost the share of female advisers above the current level of 15 per cent. The bank didn't specify its target, but noted than the proportion of women in the role has only grown by one percentage point since 2012 and the bank wants to increase that share substantially.
Female personal financial advisers are a minority in North America. In the U.S. the Bureau of Labour Statistics indicated that women made up less than 26 per cent of the industry as of 2013. Many Canadian wealth management firms say that women make up a minority of their advisers, and are moving to change that as the number of female clients grows in Canada.
"Many women like to work with other women. They are seen more as nurturing and good at building strong relationships," said Charyl Galpin, co-head of BMO Nesbitt Burns. The creation of the online recruitment page is a small move, but the bank thinks it's an important part of an education effort badly needed to attract more women to the industry. BMO's own research shows that women overwhelmingly want more work-life balance and career opportunities, something the bank is keeping in mind as it reaches out to potential female candidates.
The move follows other initiatives by the big banks to attract and retain women on Bay Street, where they make up less than one-quarter of the Canadian capital markets employees, with only 10 per cent in managing director positions, according to research and advocacy firm Catalyst.
But while women are a good fit for the role of giving financial advice, many don't see it as a viable career option, Ms. Galpin said.
"In any work force, ideally you'd like to get to 50 per cent women, 50 per cent men. I'm not sure we're going to get there in the short term, but we think this is a big step forward in helping women who might want to do a bit of research," Ms. Galpin said. BMO Nesbitt burns also has a recruiter on staff focused on increasing the number of female advisers.
Ms. Galpin said that as more women have joined the work force, graduated with MBAs and launched careers ahead of marriages, society is slowly adapting to this demographic shift.
"I think more women are asking as the CFOs for their families than we give them credit for," Ms. Galpin said. "I think we're seeing more and more of that."