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Samantha Trebesch

Practice Management > Diversity and Inclusion

Raymond James Focuses on Power of Women at Symposium

By Jeff Berman

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The growing power of women as financial decision-makers and influencers is in sharp focus this week at the 29th annual Women’s Symposium in Orlando, Florida, hosted by the Raymond James Women Financial Advisors Network, according to the firm.

At the three-day event, “we’ve been focusing on growing our women’s businesses as well as their relationships, and our theme is empowering through connection,” said Samantha Trebesch, senior vice president and head of the Advisor Inclusion Networks at Raymond James.

That means “empowering their businesses and empowering their personal and professional lives,” she told ThinkAdvisor on Thursday in a Zoom interview during the event, which ends Friday.

“We have almost 700 financial advisors, branch professionals, home office and partner professionals here” this week, making it the “largest one ever,” said Trebesch, who also leads sustainable investing for the firm’s Private Client Group.

A key objective of the event is to foster attending advisors’ commitment to supporting female advisors and providing the best possible service to female clients.

This year, “we had advisors also flying in from our United Kingdom and Canadian businesses and divisions,” along with those from across the United States, Trebesch said.

“From an investments perspective, today women control about a third of household investor assets,” she said. “But we know that, on top of the $12 trillion in investor assets controlled by women, we’re going to see [a] wealth transfer [happen], and we’re going to see [an] increase in their decision-making power and their investment power.”

In 2030, the firm expects to see $30 trillion in assets passed from largely baby boomers to the next generation, and a large chunk of that is likely going to be controlled by women as surviving spouses, she added.

Some History 

The event started almost 30 years ago, when a small group of women in a hotel room in Marco Island, Florida, were “brainstorming about how they could create a bigger impact for women in the profession,” Kim Jenson, chief operating officer for the Private Client Group at Raymond James, told ThinkAdvisor.

That led to the launch of the Women Financial Advisors Network, she noted. Over the 29 years, “they grew from a very small handful of women to the 701 that are in attendance this week,” Jenson said.

She predicted that next year’s event “will be even bigger because we’re excited to celebrate 30 years.”

Pictured: Samantha Trebesch

Jeff Berman

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