Driving change with the Verve Foundation

Founded in 2021, the Verve Foundation, started as an initiative to help those made unemployed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, it has evolved into a non-profit working to do good and make positive change in the financial services more specifically. It invests in the future of the profession by making it more accessible to a far more diverse cohort. In just three years, it has made incredible progress with programs like ‘We Are Change’ giving the opportunity to receive fully funded qualifications, educating the next generation of finance workers and advisers.

Stiff, self-serving, Jordan Belfort-types?

From the Wolf of Wall Street to Trading Places, and The Big Short to Glengarry Glen Ross, stereotypes of the greedy, selfish, and manipulative financier have been a big presence in media, slowly but surely developing beyond the screen. And media narrative has consequences…

According to research carried out by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, 10% of people are not confident financial advisers will have their ‘best interest at heart’. Similarly, 9% are not confident they would be ‘unbiased in their recommendations’. And, finally, 7% are worried about ‘becoming a victim’ of fraud.

Another study by Money Marketing shows almost 1 in 3 non-advised individuals felt they ‘couldn’t trust’ a financial adviser.

To put it simply, research suggests that mistrust is one of the biggest reasons people do not seek financial advice even though they should.

Lack of diversity in the profession

Part of that mistrust may be due to a lack of diversity within the profession. An inability to see oneself represented. An absence of the affinity bias – a cognitive bias in which individuals may tend to trust or feel more comfortable with people like themselves.

Not always a helpful bias, but one that some see fit when discussing the ever-stigmatised subject of money.

For instance, the Professional Adviser found that although women are set to command over 60% of UK wealth by 2025, only 16% of financial advisers are female.

The finance profession needed a change. To diversify its workforce and encourage a more diverse range of people to get educated. To adapt its reputation.

The Verve Foundation

Like a phoenix from the ashes, the Verve Foundation rose among the chaos, identified what needed to be done, and took the action necessary to achieve it.

With the We Are Change initiative, Verve nurtures new, diverse, talent across two years, covering six exams and 370 study hours. The only things necessary to apply and become part of one of their four annual cohorts is a passion to make a difference, a skill for innovation, and a true dedication.

Verve go further, too, delivering money workshops to vulnerable adults, helping them live more independently with increased financial education.

Hayley Rabbets, Head of the Verve Foundation, says it best:

‘We Are Change exists to break down the barriers we often see to a career in financial services, namely cost, perception and opportunity. We’re on a mission to bring brand-new people into the profession, increasing diversity and showing them how great a career in finance can be.’

How has We Are Change progressed since its inception?

As Verve’s first initiative, We Are Change has changed and adapted ten times over since it was founded.

Back in the beginning, the initiative was mainly supported by individual financial advisory firms. But, with growth comes more partners; of which Verve now has several. Rabbets states ‘a number of providers have sponsored whole cohorts with specific objectives in mind’.

For instance, Nucleus have a charitable foundation whose aim is to increase the number of women working in finance. With their support, Verve now has two women-only cohorts running.

The progress of Verve’s cohorts is undeniable. So far, the initiative has supported 56 students in their studies, 70% of whom are female, with ages ranging from 21 to 55. Ten of their students have now achieved their full diploma, and 100% have found and achieved a role in the profession.

Providing hope for the future of the profession

With excellent progress already made, Verve is providing hope for a more diverse and accessible profession.

After speaking with Rabbets, it is clear that We Are Change, and the Verve Foundation more generally, have hopes to move full steam ahead. Here’s what she had to say:

‘We’d love to expand the programme further, to help more people. We often hear people saying that there’s a lack of interest in a career in finance, but that isn’t my experience. Each time we open applications, we’re inundated with interest from people (particularly women) who are eager to become advisers. The issue they face is a lack of opportunity.

With the We Are Change programme, we’re able to give them the opportunity to become qualified, but we’re currently unable to help them with any practical work experience. This is something we’re currently working on and hope to see come to life in the not-too-distant future.’

To make that progress – help more people with practical work experience – financial services firms need to start listening and opening space for the incoming generation of workers.

What should advice firms be considering?

When you get close to the Verve Foundation and their We Are Change initiative, it becomes ever so clear that the next stage in making the profession more diverse is creating opportunity.

Rabbets urges financial services companies to take a chance on people. It’s always a benefit when someone comes in with experience and can ‘hit the ground running’, but there are also benefits that come with employing those without experience. Namely, Rabbets states, they come without preconceptions, bringing fresh perspectives, an often unmatched work ethic, and incredible keenness to learn.

Secondly, Rabbets considers diversity within teams as not only a benefit, but a fundamental need. To continue diversifying the profession, employers must recognise this need.

Ultimately, if every person in your team has similar ideas, backgrounds, views, skills, and talents, you will never move forward. You will remain stagnant while the rest of the profession propels ahead.

Referring to the affinity bias, there is also – in Rabbet’s words – ‘real power in seeing yourself in someone you aspire to be, or someone you’re trusting with your financial wellbeing’. The more diversity there is, the more people will see themselves in those they converse with, creating real engagement.

This document is marketing material for a retail audience and does not constitute advice or recommendations. Past performance is not a guide to future performance and may not be repeated. The value of investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount originally invested.