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Changing the Face of Financial Advice at Regent University

Author: Paul Allen, Associate Director
of M.A. in Financial Planning & Law
Depending on who you ask, there are somewhere between 4 and 7 steps in the process of  ‘problem solving’... identify, analyze, describe, etc. No matter how many steps you recognize in your problem solving process, the issue is never resolved unless there is implementation of a solution.

I am Director of the CFP Board Registered Program at the Regent University School of Law. As I prepare to teach the Capstone Course in Financial Planning in the approaching summer semester, I am reminded there is a problem within the financial planning profession.  You probably won’t be surprised by the problem, but you might be surprised to discover we are implementing the solution to it at Regent University.

The problem is the financial planning profession does not look like the rest of America. The United States is 76.6% white and 49.2% male. According to 2019 Bureau of Labor Statistics data, financial advisors in the US are 82.2% white and 67.9% male. If those numbers are not sufficiently skewed for your tastes, try this one: a recent study by the Knight Foundation found that just 1.3% of the $69 Trillion of assets under management in this country are being managed by firms owned by women or minorities.

If women and minorities are going to achieve economic parity in the United States, they will need advisors they trust. The financial advising profession has an inherent credibility gap when it doesn’t look like the audience they are trying to reach. Until this happens, many in our society will be perpetually underserved. Recognition of the problem is widespread among financial advising professional associations. Even the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards is dedicating time and resources to addressing the lack of diversity issue.

We can analyze and argue about how this happened and who to blame, or we can roll up our sleeves and get to work fixing it. At Regent University we are implementing the solution. Enrollment in our CFP Board Registered Program is currently 59% minorities and 43% female (of students electing to report). When these students graduate and enter the financial planning profession armed with a Master of Arts in Financial Planning and Law degree, they will naturally rise to leadership positions and create the sustained transformation the field of personal financial advice so badly needs.

We don’t screen applicants to the Regent University program in order to obtain the diverse student body we want. We don’t need to. Education means opportunity, and our Christian principles led us to conclude this opportunity should be available to everyone. By removing barriers to entry that favor certain socio-economic statuses, we have created a naturally inclusive environment. Additionally, the Military Resource Center at Regent University eases the transition of active duty personnel and veterans - a highly diverse group - into our program. We don’t need to go looking for diversity. Diversity finds us!

The Master of Arts in Financial Planning and Law program at Regent University is just a few years old, but we are already making a big impact on the future face of financial advice. A face that is bright and full of hope and opportunity. I am humbled and proud to be a part of it.

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