“That might be why some people take the easy route and just focus on one thing,” she explained.
Motherhood and flexibility
Malikzada also spoke on the importance of flexibility within the industry and how it has affected her as a mother.
She acknowledged that, while flexible working may be “the norm” in a post-Covid environment, before this it was “very difficult for women to make success of themselves".
She explained that her desire for flexibility was one of the reasons she went through the St James’s Place academy as it allowed her to build her career while not compromising her time with her family.
Malikzada added that now her work revolves around her children.
“I only see clients when they're in school, I don't work during school holidays”, she explained.
“I do work very short hours as a result, but it gives me the flexibility to be around my kids and be the mum that I want to be without compromising my career.”
To support this, Malikzada called for the industry to “be more understanding and more welcoming to other women who might just be looking to start a family but don't necessarily want to give up their job”.
She added that this could be beneficial for companies, engendering a sense of loyalty from the individuals
“Because it is a phase, once individuals live through that difficult time they will become more loyal to companies because they were understanding”, she explained.
Issues for the future
Looking to the future, Malikzada identified a misunderstanding about the importance of money from the younger generation as an issue that advisers may be facing soon.
“I've got siblings who are in their 20s and they don't value money the way I did growing up, and that's how their generation is and I think how they've been living is going to cause a lot of issues in the future,” she explained.
“They've just so used to living in debt and I think that's catastrophic, So it's quite scary to think what might happen if this sort of pattern continues.”
If you would like to be featured in our New Voices series, or you know someone who would be a good fit please get in touch with Tom Dunstan at tom.dunstan@ft.com
