Marguerita Cheng learned early in her financial planning career to expect doubts.
Of Chinese, Irish and Eastern European descent, Cheng's quiet personality was misread as evidence she lacked knowledge about the wealth management industry and wouldn't make a good advisor.
Today, as the founder and CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth, a financial planning firm Gaithersburg, Maryland, she knows her resilience paid off. But the path wasn't easy, and it illustrates the special barriers women and people of color often face in the wealth management industry.
"I felt so alone," Cheng said recently during a virtual chat organized by Onyx Advisor Network, a remote network for underrepresented advisors. "I don't think people were blatantly sexist or racist, but because they didn't see anybody like me, multiracial and a mother of young children, they didn't think it was possible."
A certified financial planner, Cheng is in an industry where not even one in four advisors — just 23.6% — are female,
A
"We focus much of our energy on the recruitment of women, which is important too. But none of these barriers keep women out of the industry," said Julie Ragatz, a vice president of next gen and advisor development programs at Carson and a co-author of the study. "They keep them from staying."
Both Cheng and her husband are first-generation college graduates — she earned her bachelor's degree in finance at University of Maryland in College Park and completed an executive education program at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business. While balancing work with raising three children, she recalled during the Onyx virtual chat that she initially struggled with the selling component of financial advisory work and with once being told to be "more aggressive" on the phone. She later said in a brief interview that she didn't want to be "an aggressive bulldog," and instead preferred to spend thoughtful and deliberate time on building relationships with clients.
Her approach didn't come without consequences, even as she was often asked to help colleagues understand financial concepts such as options trading.
"It was like: On the one hand, you don't think I'm going to be successful;, on the other hand, we need you," Cheng said during the Onyx virtual chat. "It was disheartening."
Those experiences, however, taught her two key lessons: She could be more assertive about setting boundaries and asking for help when needed.
A
Cheng said it's important for women to always seek out new connections. She used the skills that helped her to get her clients to also connect with other advisors and expand her network.
"I really want our profession to be more inclusive," Cheng said. "It is not about pushing anybody out, it's about pulling people in."
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to clarify's Cheng's heritage and clarify comments Cheng made during the Onyx virtual chat.
