Miranda Reiter

Increasingly, efforts have been established to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the financial planning profession. Still, there is a lack of women, Black, and Latinx financial planners. Luckily, research can shed light on these issues, providing well-founded insights and allowing us the opportunity to impact a growing, dynamic profession directly. This presentation aims to provide an overview of the history of DEI research in financial planning, explain the major findings of contemporary DEI research, and share the areas of opportunity for future studies to improve the profession continuously.

An inclusive workplace culture creates a safe working environment that attracts diverse candidates and clients, increases employee retention, and improves overall morale. This presentation will cover the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives being led from the top and provide tangible steps that firm leaders can take to create and sustain these efforts, from creating a welcoming environment to leading practices for working with diverse clients and employees.

Cultural competency is the idea that one is aware of their and others’ cultures and can successfully apply this knowledge in working with others. This presentation covers what it means to be culturally competent and its associated advantages, understand why it matters, how to master cultural competencies, and how to apply culturally aware strategies to help them be more effective and have better relationships with diverse clients and communities.