Skip to main content

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.

Popular posts from this blog

Regent Law Hires Two New Faculty Members—Both Yale Law Graduates—for Fall 2022

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (July 5, 2022) – Today, Regent University School of Law announced the appointment of two new members of its faculty, Erin Morrow Hawley and David D. Velloney.  Both Hawley and Velloney are graduates of Yale Law School.  Professor Hawley will teach constitutional law and serve as a senior fellow at the Robertson Center for Constitutional Law.  Professor Velloney will focus on criminal law, military law, and constitutional criminal procedure.   Professors Hawley and Velloney are the third and fourth professors added to the Regent Law faculty in the past year.  “We are incredibly fortunate to attract such exceptional teachers, mentors, and scholars to our faculty,” said Brad Lingo, dean of Regent University School of Law.  “Our students will love learning from professors Hawley and Velloney and benefit from the depth of experience and Christian perspectives they bring.” New Faculty Appointments: Erin Morrow Hawley: Associate Pro...
Read more

Regent Alumna Nominated for Two Judgeships

Tanya Bullock, a 2000 Regent Law graduate, has been nominated for a judicial position on Virginia Beach’s Circuit Court and for a vacancy in the city’s General District Court. Bullock founded the firm Bullock & Cooper with her twin sister, a 2002 Regent Law graduate. Bullock has been honored numerous times for her outstanding work in the legal field and on behalf of the community. Awards include Inside Business’s Top 40 Under 40 and Hampton Roads’s Outstanding Professional Women . Previous to founding her firm, Bullock worked as a local prosecutor. Only four others were nominated for the Circuit Court vacancy, including a current general district judge and a former delegate. Ten others were nominated for the General District Court position. Nominations were submitted last month to the Virginia Beach Bar Association, which distributed the names to members and asked them to rate the nominees. When the General Assembly’s regular session convenes on January 13, 2010, the local ...
Read more

Three More Regent Law Alumni Appointed as Judges

Three more Regent University School of Law alumni have been appointed to judgeships, bringing the total number of Regent Law alumni currently serving on the bench to 28. The Virginia General Assembly filled eight vacant judgeships during a special session on Thursday, September 18. Earle C. Mobley ’89 was appointed as a judge for the Portsmouth Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Mobley has served as the commonwealth’s attorney in Portsmouth since 2002. Phillip C. Hollowell ’98 was appointed to the Virginia Beach Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Most recently, Hollowell has served as deputy commonwealth’s attorney in Virginia Beach. David Morgan Barredo '01 was appointed Culpeper County’s Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney, as the new Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge for Virginia’s 16th District. In addition, Joseph A. Migliozzi ’94 (pictured) , who had been serving as a judge in Norfolk General District Court since 2009, was promoted to the Norfolk Circui...
Read more