There is no shortage of serious talk about the need to boost financial advisor diversity at firms. Now meet an FA who's clearly an expert on diversity: Marguerita "Rita" Cheng, a multiracial, multicultural financial planner whose advisory practice draws clients from an array of cultures and wide-ranging experiences.
"I think about diversity in terms of not just race, gender and ethnicity but also religion, life experience and diversity of thought," the founder of Blue Ocean Global Wealth tells ThinkAdvisor in an interview.
Cheng's father was born in China, and her mother is a Poughkeepsie, New York, native of Irish and Eastern European descent. Rita has twice lived in Japan, the second time working in Tokyo's Wall Street district (Kabutocho) while attending Keio University on scholarship.
Her college degrees are diverse: A B.S. in finance and a B.A. in East Asian language and literature (Japanese), both from the University of Maryland.
She started out as an FA at Ameriprise when it was American Express Financial Advisors. After 14 years there, she launched her own advisory in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in 2013.
Her advice to the financial services industry on how to increase advisor diversity? Focus "not just on recruitment but also retention," she stresses.
In the interview, the Eurasian CFP, 54, born in Poughkeepsie, maintains that financial planning is so crucial, it "transforms lives." A requirement for all her clients is that she create a financial plan for them.
In addition to wealth management, Cheng's firm also provides FA continuing education credit and educational programs tailored to consumers.
A columnist for Kiplinger, MarketWatch and U.S. News & World Report, Cheng has a flair for what engages folks marketing-wise: Her weekly women's podcast, also available as a webinar, publishes on Friday evenings and is dubbed "Margaritas With Marguerita": Bring drinks and learn about personal finance.
Co-author of "Wealth Management Rules: 12 Tips to Help You Harness Your Financial Know-How" (Inkandescent, 2014), Cheng is a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council and has been a CFP board ambassador for nine years. She is also a member of the board's Diversity Advisory Group.
ThinkAdvisor recently interviewed the advisor by phone. About her diverse clientele, she notes: "I'm reaching people who weren't being served. They were overlooked. A lot of people who come to me say they hired me because my story connected with them."
Here are highlights of our interview:
THINKADVISOR: In what way does your firm embrace global diversity?
MARGUERITA CHENG: I think about diversity in terms of not just race, gender and ethnicity but also religion, life experience and diversity of thought.
Tell me about your own diverse background.
I'm Eurasian: My dad was born in China; my mom, who was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, is of Irish and Eastern European heritage. That makes me multiracial and multicultural. I was born in Poughkeepsie, and I lived in different places with my family, including Japan, the Netherlands and Texas. Later, I lived in Japan [on my own].
What makes your clientele particularly diverse?
It's about how they think. I celebrate the diverse experiences that my clients have had. I'm sensitive to working with people whose stories — global experiences — are very similar to mine. Also, many are from blended families. Maybe they have extended families, like having a grandma or grandpa they need to account for when we're creating a financial plan.
When you lived in Japan the second time, you worked in Tokyo Wall Street, Tokyo's financial district. Please discuss.
I won a scholarship from the Japanese Ministry of International Trade & Industry to study in Japan. You're allowed to work in your field [of study]. So while there, I had a job with Towa Securities, a Japanese investment bank: I was an editor of a newsletter for English-speaking investors and a junior analyst.
When you returned to the U.S., what was next on your agenda?
I wanted to earn a business degree, so I needed a part-time job. I was hired by Nordstrom as a part-time salesgirl. I was there for seven years and worked my way up the corporate ladder to manager. The next step for me was buyer.
But you left that opportunity to become a financial planner. You and your husband had a toddler daughter and an infant son at the time. What was behind your decision to leave?
I didn't feel fulfilled. But let's be real: It's not easy to break into this profession, especially if you're a woman, a woman of color, a young mom.
But I thought about how many people there were like me, and I believed that they, and others, needed quality financial planners. I wanted to help people. I wanted to make a difference.
