Page 31 - Investment Advisor September 2021

Charles Schwab first The company created a series of educational materials to help
partnered with Ariel financial professionals tap into an underserved segment of the
Investments on the market and aid them to become well-versed in gray divorce,
pioneering Black widowhood and caregiving. These events disproportionately
Investor Study in 1998 to characterize differences in attitudes affect the financial futures of women.
and behaviors among Black and white investors tied to saving,
investing and other financial priorities. In 2020 — a year that
was particularly challenging for people of color, who were FIRMS – BROKER-DEALERS
disproportionately hurt by the impacts of the COVID-19 pan-
demic, and a year in which social and economic inequalities Cambridge Investment Research,
were being confronted from boardrooms to courtrooms and on an independent BD, serves more
Main Streets across America — these leading firms believed than 3,300 financial professionals across the country, with its
the time was right to revisit this critical issue. They reunited to home base in Fairfield, Iowa, since 1992, when Eric Schwartz
refresh the study and bring renewed insight and attention to founded the company. The firm was a pioneer in implementing
issues facing Black investors. fee-based structures. The IBD has been a leader in social
dynamics, having had a female CEO, Amy Webber, for the past
Fidelity Investments’ work in the dig- 11 years. In 2020, the pandemic sped up its five-year plan in
ital assets space includes Fidelity building out digital transformation infrastructure, which
Digital Assets, an institutional-focused execution and custody meant it was able to add a digital texting solution that caught
services platform; Fidelity Digital Funds, which focuses on on with clients. The firm also helped advisors adapt to virtual
making digitally native assets accessible to institutional inves- communication, to work with current and prospective clients.
tors; and a blockchain incubator within the Fidelity Center for
Applied Technology (FCAT), which tracks trends and builds Incapital, during the past 18
proofs of concept around new use cases. To benefit the advisor months, has implemented three
community and broader industry, Fidelity has continued to types of educational and thought leadership initiatives. For its
offer research, educational materials, and thought leadership Pulse Survey, it partnered with Red Zone Marketing to conduct
about digital assets in the form of blog posts, white papers, a series of studies to uncover how the most successful financial
bylines, webinars and social media to educate advisors and our professionals are finding ways to change their business opera-
clients about this topic. tions, communications and marketing through the uncertainty
of 2020-2021. With Value-Add Webinars, the firm introduced
New York Life Investments recently launched monthly webinars via Zoom and WebEx. And with Educational
the Advisor Advancement Institute, which Materials, Incapital delivered the largest suite of educational
provides financial advisors with innovative, materials in the industry with a goal of educating financial pro-
educational resources built around research fessionals and their clients on investment solutions.
on the emerging trends in financial planning —
particularly those that represent underserved or underutilized LifeMark Securities Corp.
areas of opportunity in the marketplace. NYLI also used requires all registered represen-
insights from various studies to develop a suite of educational tatives to attend fiduciary train-
programming to better position advisors to build successful ing annually to reflect their dedication to a higher fiduciary
and long-term relationships with the underserved segment of standard. Their goal is to establish ethics and transparency as
female investors. And in June 2020, NYLI launched the U.S. a standard for all broker-dealers and RIAs. Affiliating with the
Candriam Academy, the world’s first free-to-access accredited ethical standards of West Point, the Coast Guard Academy, and
training platform to provide education for advisors and inter- universities across the United States, no exceptions are toler-
mediaries on sustainable investing. ated for the best interest of the client standards presented in
writing by every representative to each client. LifeMark is
Transamerica created the Being focused on the promotion of the Global Fiduciary Steward
There for Her campaign, aimed designation, and the continuation of this through the L5 lead-
at helping financial professionals ership course.
build female-inclusive practices to better address life events
that disproportionately affect women. The objectives are to Peak Reps’ Digital Partnership Program
educate advisors on women’s needs in retirement, provide was created because not all advisors have
resources for advisors and their female clients, and launch a the knowledge, skills or temperament to
social media campaign in March, Women’s History Month. deploy social media campaigns on their own. To accelerate the

SEPTEMBER 2021 INVESTMENT ADVISOR 29