03.22.22
Women Leaders of the Industry, Part 3: LeAnn Rummel
by: LeAnn Rummel, Cetera Investment
In this Women Leaders of the Industry interview series, we present our third installment, featuring LeAnn Rummel, president and CEO of Cetera Investment Services. LeAnn discusses her experiences in the financial services industry, her achievements and the challenges she overcame, as well as the importance of making a difference in the community.
1a. What is/was your proudest accomplishment?
I take a lot of pride in everything our team has accomplished together at Cetera. We recently eclipsed $600 million in revenue, which is an amazing achievement and speaks volumes about our team’s dedication and commitment to helping our advisors and financial institutions grow.. We also consistently earn high employee satisfaction and client satisfaction scores, which isn’t easy to do and says a lot about our amazing culture and the people here. We have extremely close-knit relationships with our employees and clients – they’re like family – and that’s something I take a lot of pride in.
I’m also very proud of being named a BISA Circle of Excellence member in 2014. It’s an honor to be recognized and affiliated with such a talented cohort of professionals.
I’m proud of all the strong women in my life – personally and professionally – and when I reflect on Women’s History Month, I think about Michelle Obama’s quote: “Here’s to strong women. May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.”
1b. What is/was your greatest challenge?
The reality is that in many ways, I had to work harder to prove myself to get to where I am today. Financial services has traditionally been a male-dominated industry. We have made many strides in terms of increasing diversity and inclusion in our industry, but there is still much more to be done.
Nearly all my mentors in the business were men, and I wouldn’t be in the business if not for their mentorship, care and guidance. I was fortunate to see first-hand – at an early age – how advisors can make a profound impact on clients’ lives, and that has made a lasting impact on me. It inspires me every day, which is why I’m so passionate about my role in helping advisors, financial institutions and our team grow.
In terms of other challenges, the reality is that our industry has had lots of ups and down – and some of the downs were filled with real adversity. But during the most challenging times, we not only survived – we thrived. These times provided unique opportunities to challenge the status quo, advance innovative solutions, and rally as a team to deliver excellence to clients and employees.
2. What advice do you have to give to other women leaders in the industry – both new and experienced?
The most important piece of advice for anyone in the industry – new, experienced, male or female – is that you must love what you do. That was instilled in me at a young age by my parents. Your passion shines through when you love what you do, and that is such an important ingredient in a successful and rewarding career. Loving the work you do – and the people you work with – carries even greater importance when you consider how many hours of our lives we spend working (doing what we love).
Some of the vital leadership skills women need to succeed in my mind are empathy, building authentic relationships, trustworthiness and emotional intelligence. The last piece of wisdom is to find a place where you can bring your full self to work every day to achieve your dreams and fulfill your potential in supporting your team, your clients and your profession.
3. What changes have you witnessed and/or experienced regarding women’s contribution to the industry? What are your plans towards further change in the industry?
One really encouraging shift is that we have more women in leadership positions at Cetera Investment Services than ever before. Women are very well suited to careers across the financial advice industry for many reasons, and we are doing all we can to educate, encourage and recruit more women to consider joining this incredible and rewarding profession. In addition, our Cetera Investors branch community, formed through our acquisition of Foresters Financial in 2019, is comprised of a relatively diverse and younger cohort of financial professionals. This group brought fresh perspectives and new thinking to our Cetera community for nearly three years now.
Another positive trend is that more leaders across the industry are asking us about how diverse we are as an organization and what we are doing in terms of diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI). Those questions weren’t being asked as often and it’s inspiring to see this evolution taking place.
We are working on several important DEI initiatives at Cetera that I’m fortunate to be involved in and feel passionate about. Cetera has several advisor-led resource groups, a few of which I support from an executive level. Our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Council is doing a lot of great work in providing an environment that’s diverse at all levels, and where all team members and financial professionals are fairly represented and treated with respect. We recently launched our Black Advisor Community, which is a group of Cetera advisors who serve, celebrate and support accelerating the inclusion of Black financial professionals into the Cetera family as well as the greater financial community at large. This group is all about helping our financial professionals help more Americans achieve financial wellbeing and offers a professional pathway and the support needed for financial professionals to hone their skills via peer-to-peer networking and growth-focused best practices. I’m excited to see the change these advisors are making and the impact they will have on our firm and the industry.
We are also kicking off a Women’s Advisor Community, which we expect to launch in March 2022 and will host several networking and educational events.
Ultimately, I feel strongly about these efforts and love having the opportunity to contribute. I am confident that together, we can make our profession more inclusive and diverse.
4. Personally or professionally, what is your greatest aspiration?
My greatest aspiration would be that I’m not remembered as a CEO, but as someone who had a lasting imprint on other people’s lives. There are lots of causes that are near and dear to my heart – especially in our local community – that drive long-term, significant change. From the Big Brothers Big Sisters to a local women’s shelter, I appreciate and support many community groups and organizations that make a difference today and create a brighter future tomorrow. Ultimately, I want to be doing as much of that as I can – paying it forward to leave the world a better place.