Practical Financial Exams managing director and adviser, Michaela Pashley, has hailed the advice profession for being “incredibly understanding, kind, and inclusive”.
Pashley, a trans adviser at Roseum Financial Planning, who offers adviser-specific qualifications, said that since coming out, she has had a very positive experience within the profession.
“Within the industry, I have never encountered any transphobia, I have never been misgendered and all my clients have been very accommodating,” she told FT Adviser.
One firm Pashley singled out in particular was the principal firm for Roseum, a “firm run by older men in suits” whom she described as “just brilliant”.
She argued this shows “great strides” in the financial services industry as, historically, it “has treated trans people very differently”.
“It is thanks to the struggles of those people who were treated differently and the very real trauma they would have gone through that paved the way for people like me and I can never thank them enough for that,” she added.
However, she did acknowledge that her experience may not be indicative of every trans experience within the industry.
“All of my business is conducted on LinkedIn which is, as a platform, overwhelmingly geared on the left,” she explained.
“So my experience, which has been nothing but positive, is going to be skewed because it’s a huge industry and I’m focused just on that small part of the industry which is on LinkedIn.
“I can’t speak for off LinkedIn but what I can tell you is that my personal experience has been that the financial services industry has been very welcoming and very lovely.”
As an example, she mentioned one case that caught her attention last year, referencing a well known adviser who was “disparaging of people like me”.
“There was nothing personal, it was more of a general thing, and I saw in the news he had been sanctioned by the CII.”
Despite this, Pashley remains respectful of those in the industry, stating: “I don’t go looking for fights”.
Career journey
Pashley also spoke about the establishment of Practical Financial Exams which she recounted setting up to support newer advisers who, while incredibly qualified, may struggle with some feelings of inadequacy and imposter syndrome.
She has held many different positions within the industry, having worked as a business development manager, an accounts manager, a training manager, a compliance consultant, and a paraplanner throughout her career.
“I walk the walk as well as talk the talk as I’ve got my own financial planning clients and I do very well with them,” she added.
However, she stated that, in 2020, she decided she was going to launch a qualification to help advisers.
“I wanted to launch, not a training course, but a proper qualification that would be similar to something offered by the CII,” she explained.
“I wanted it to provide a framework to enable new diploma qualified advisers to hit the ground running and do a great job.”
