Data & Research September 22, 2022

Mentorship Is Key to Success for Attracting Diverse Associates

An Edward Jones study finds that most in the advisory community believe seeking out a mentor is the most important focus for diverse associates early in their career.

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The most effective way financial services firms can attract more diverse associates is by creating a place of belonging, according to 35% of financial advisers, branch team support members and home office associates surveyed by Edward Jones.

Eighteen percent of the 195 people surveyed said offering greater networking or development opportunities was the most important effort. The survey was taken among those attending the second annual Edward Jones Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Conference.

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According to the 2022 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Survey, 74% said seeking out a mentor is the most important thing for diverse associates to focus on early in their careers.

“In order for DEI initiatives to be successful they must be embedded throughout the entire enterprise,” said Edward Jones’ DEI head, Jennifer Kingston. “First and foremost, diverse associates need to feel like they belong. Individuals, regardless of their background, demographics or circumstance, must be respected, valued and met with the necessary resources to reach their individual potential.”

With changing demographics in the U.S., 34% of conference qualifiers said that offering different models or ways to serve their clients is the top way Edward Jones can ensure it attracts and serves more diverse clients or under-represented groups.

Branch-facing qualifiers (financial advisers and branch team support members) noted that word of mouth or referrals from existing clients (92%) and educational events or webinars (46%) remain primary strategies to attract clients and grow their own practices.

Products September 22, 2022

Product and Service Launches

Purchasing Power introduces financial wellness services and iJoin leverages Coherent’s retirement savers product innovation tool.

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iJoin Leverages Coherent’s Retirement Savers Product Innovation Tool

LDI-MAP (doing business as iJoin) has announced that it has selected Coherent, a global software-as-service company, to help deliver personalized options for retirement savers and enable better outcomes through faster product innovation.

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Coherent Spark converts business logic, including rules, calculations and data, from any spreadsheet into an application programming interface, which can then connect to any application. This enables business and IT teams to work together to bring products to market and innovate their offerings at a faster cadence.

With Spark, iJoin’s product team can build actuarial models for an array of managed account and guaranteed income products in spreadsheets and then convert the logic into integration-ready APIs instantly without the need for manual coding. iJoin’s actuarial team also uses Spark for robust, high-speed testing within the platform, which significantly collapses the product development cycle. Coherent Spark also includes all required security, compliance and audit-ready capabilities required to meet the stringent requirements of iJoin’s insurance industry partners.

Purchasing Power Introduces Financial Wellness Services

Purchasing Power, a voluntary benefits company, has announced a set of financial wellness services designed to provide its clients’ employees with more financial support. These services complement the core Purchasing Power employee purchasing program by enabling access to highly actionable, timely financial wellness benefits through partnerships.

Access to financial health resources made available from Chicago-based social impact fintech company SpringFour. This service enables consumers to find vetted, local nonprofit resources that can help them address some of their immediate financial challenges including childcare services, utility costs and food savings. It is provided at no cost to Purchasing Power clients and clients’ employees.

Live financial counseling and coaching is powered by Working Credit NFP, a national nonprofit also based in Chicago. The program is designed to help consumers receive personalized advice to improve and build their credit. Counselors work with employees one-on-one by Zoom to help them learn how the credit system works and create a personalized credit action plan to help them not only build and maintain a strong credit score but also support them in meeting their financial goals. Purchasing Power will offer financial coaching to employees of select clients.

With the addition of Working Credit NFP, employees will have access to credit-building workshops and 12 months of unlimited one-on-one credit-building counseling. They will have the opportunity to create a customized credit action plan including financial goal-setting, progress checkpoints, budgeting support and credit-building tips.

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