Press Releases

Release Date: November 8, 2007
Contact:
Jeannie Bunton, (202) 216-2067, (202) 577-3901, jbunton@sifma.org

Firms Recognized with Diversity Leadership Awards at SIFMA Annual Meeting

Edward Jones Receives Emerging Leadership Award, Pershing Receives Innovative Leadership Award, Merrill Lynch Receives Sustained Leadership Award

Boca Raton, FL, November 8, 2007 – Today, at its Annual Meeting, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) awarded Edward Jones, Pershing and Merrill Lynch with its Diversity Leadership Awards.  Accepting the awards were James D. Weddle, managing partner of Edward Jones; James T. Crowley, managing director of national customers, Pershing LLC; and Eddy Bayardelle, managing director of global philanthropy at Merrill Lynch and president of the Merrill Lynch Foundation.

“Perhaps the most important ingredient to a business’s success is its ability to adapt and change in a shifting landscape,” said Marc Lackritz, SIFMA president and CEO.  “As the markets and the customers we serve grow increasingly diverse, it’s essential that we as an industry take steps to recruit and network among a wider cross-section of tomorrow’s leaders.  For their foresight and dedication to this end, we honor Edward Jones, Pershing and Merrill Lynch.”

Emerging Leadership Award: Edward Jones

Edward Jones’ Detroit Project, a pilot program created in 2006 attracts African-American clients and new recruits to Edward Jones in the Detroit metropolitan area.  To accomplish this, marketing was used to create awareness of Edward Jones within the Detroit African-American community, while at the same time forming strategic partnerships with community groups.  Local financial advisors also helped by networking to create partnerships with African-American community-based organizations.  Additionally, the firm opened an office in the Southfield neighborhood of Detroit before any new financial advisors were hired to work there.  Instead of working at home at first, all new Detroit financial advisors were able to immediately use the Southfield office and its staff, which offered them resources, camaraderie, and the professionalism of sharing an office.  Further, the bricks and mortar also sent a strong message of Edward Jones’ commitment to the local community.  To date, the program has successfully increased the visibility of Edward Jones in the African-American community, leading to new clients and new hires.  In less than a year, the new office in Southfield now handles $10 million in new assets, and efforts through the program have attracted five new African-American financial advisors.  Given the success of the pilot program, Edward Jones has begun to replicate its pilot, recently expanding the program into Houston.

Innovative Leadership Award: Pershing

Pershing has a long history of actively promoting diversity and, after almost a decade, continues to focus on advancing diversity efforts to the benefit of employees and customers.  The company has moved away from diversity programs that function as events and activities, and has been successful in infusing business, human resources processes, management practices, and development tools with the language, concepts, and culture of inclusion.  In 2005, Pershing introduced “In the House,” an initiative designed to expand the Firm’s business through the lens of diversity and inclusion.  This concept was derived from the inclusion training provided by Novations Group, Inc., a full-service diversity, inclusion and development services firm.  Pershing has extended this concept beyond the classroom and internally branded “In the House” by reconstructing its diversity model to result in significant cultural changes that support full employee inclusion.  In this way, employees who are “In the House” are as much drivers of inclusion and change as they are mobilized to meet critical business needs.  The goal is to utilize “In the House” to strengthen the workforce to meet critical business targets.  “In the House” activities focus on energizing managers and employees around inclusion in order to increase engagement and participation from all individuals toward the firm’s goals.  Pershing has effectively integrated “In the House” into all of it’s business and human resources processes, including talent review and succession planning, performance evaluation processes, business units’ diversity and inclusion plans, onboarding processes and all learning and leadership development activities.

Sustained Leadership Award: Merrill Lynch

The Merrill Lynch Classroom is a suite of four signature programs – Investing Pays Off®, Young Entrepreneurs™, Global Ambassadors™, and Pacesetter Schools™ – that leverage the company’s people, expertise and capital to empower today’s youth through education.  Investing Pays Off® (IPO®) aims to prepare young people for tomorrow by arming them with the knowledge and know-how essential for financial and career success.  IPO exposes youngsters to learning and experiences that will motivate them to become the next generation of business leaders.  To date, the program has helped level the playing field for some two million young people in more than 60 countries.  Young Entrepreneurs™ programs aim to cultivate individual economic prosperity through business development and the pursuit of new and enterprising ideas.  This is accomplished with Merrill’s support of a broad range of initiatives such as creating mentorship opportunities between students and successful business leaders as well as sponsoring studies on the use of technology by minority entrepreneurs.  Global Ambassadors™ engages young people with the world beyond their borders.  Drawing the support of international ambassadors and officials, Merrill cultivates our next generation of ambassadors by exposing them to new perspectives as they help transform their own communities. Through the Pacesetter Schools™ program, Merrill Lynch lends its institutional strengths of leadership, innovation, solutions and results to strengthen a global network of schools and provide a forum for best practices in preparing kids for life. 

Award Categories

Emerging Leadership – Consideration is given to firms that are early in their diversity efforts (i.e., programs or initiatives in place for two years or less) and have incorporated comprehensive planning and communication, clear articulation of goals and measure of success, and use of best practices.

Innovative Leadership – Consideration is given to firms that develop or employ exceptionally unique and creative approaches to their diversity efforts.

Sustained Leadership – Consideration is given to firms demonstrating continued commitment and advancement of diversity strategies and efforts.

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The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association brings together the shared interests of more than 650 securities firms, banks and asset managers. SIFMA's mission is to promote policies and practices that work to expand and perfect markets, foster the development of new products and services and create efficiencies for member firms, while preserving and enhancing the public's trust and confidence in the markets and the industry. SIFMA works to represent its members’ interests locally and globally. It has offices in New York, Washington D.C., and London and its associated firm, the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, is based in Hong Kong.