Raymond James (RJFS) says wealth management guru Sallie Krawcheck will be the keynote speaker at its 20th annual Women's Symposium set for mid-October in St. Petersburg, Fla.
"Sallie Krawcheck is an extraordinary woman, and we value her leadership in the financial services industry," said Nicole Spinelli, director of Raymond James' Network for Women Advisors, in an interview. "It's very befitting for us to have someone of her caliber with us to celebrate the 20th year of the event."
Krawcheck is the chair of Ellevate Network and former president of the Global Wealth & Investment Management unit of Bank of America (BAC). She acquired the women's organization 85 Broads in 2013; the group recently changed its name to Ellevate and plans to launch an index fund in cooperation with Pax World Management that will invest in companies with a sizeable number of women officers and directors.
"The network and this event are proof that a small group of committed individuals can make an impact – we have close to twice the number of practicing female financial advisors than the industry average and several female advisors who regularly rank among the top professionals in the industry," said Raymond James CEO Paul Reillly, in a press release.
Raymond James has roughly 850 female advisors. More than 200 are expected to attend the event in October. In addition, women working in the capital markets operations of Raymond James will attend, along with some 30 or more prospective advisors working at the wirehouses and other broker-dealers.
"In this industry, we believe as a firm that no information is proprietary, and that sharing information is key is relationships," Spinelli said. "We've been doing this event for 20 years at Raymond James, which is a testament to the fact that Raymond James is a great firm and is a great firm specifically for women. While other firms have women's networks, they may not be as well defined as ours. We truly value the perspectives shared by our women advisors."
