Having advisers who are reflective of diverse communities and backgrounds will improve the industry, according to Malikzada Financial Planning principal partner Zohul Malikzada.
Speaking to FTAdviser, Malikzada, who's firm is a partner practice of SJP, said this is an issue she experiences in her work today: “When I look around, I don't see many people who are like me.”
But this is not a new issue as Malikzada explained this extended from when she entered the industry to where she is today.
Even though at her first job the lack of representation bothered her, she added that it didn’t deter her: “I had the mindset of ‘I want to be the first’ so that kept me going”.
She acknowledged that representation is important for success: “It's helpful to see other people who share your background to make it to the top so you can think ‘I can do it too’, and allows you to strive for it”.
She also discussed the impact this would have on clients, stating: “When speaking with my Asian clients, I think if I didn’t share their background, I wouldn’t be as understanding or as empathetic towards them.
“This is because I get where they're coming from.”
As a result, Malikzada called for “some sort of encouragement” to help people to join and stated that the industry needs to look “a bit more welcoming to the outside world”.
Backgrounds
She did not think that financial services was necessarily a welcoming one, suggesting a person's background determines how welcoming it is.
“When I joined the industry, I started from the very bottom and when you start there your background doesn't matter,” she explained.
However, as she progressed in her career she stated it became “more challenging”.
“I started as a cashier, but there was no way I could apply for a grad scheme. Even though I had just graduated from university with a law degree it was just not possible because of my background.”
“When I finally moved on to the head office, I noticed that the entrants at that level were mainly from wealthy backgrounds, people who'd been to great universities and had wealthy families.
Female representation
Malikzada also spoke on the lack of female representation within the industry, going back to her journey through the St James’s Place academy.
“When we were doing our exams and training through St James's Place, there were about 18 of us and only four women.”
She added that, by the time she had made it to graduation, two of these women had dropped out, “so there were just two of us who had actually made it through”.
Malikzada found this lack of female representation “quite challenging”.
She additionally suggested that this may be due to a lack of encouragement or help for young women who also have to juggle family and career.
