Wayne Bland closed one chapter of his story when a federal court approved a $34 million settlement of a class action bias claim against Edward Jones & Co. this summer. But the challenges for Bland and other minority financial advisors are not over, the former broker said.
Bland, who litigated that bias case over three years, said he’s still working with a number of Black financial advisors across the country to give them support and encouragement as they navigate what he describes as still unfair hurdles for diverse candidates. Bland is hopeful, however, that some of the programmatic changes that Jones has made during and following the lawsuit to its account inheritance programs and training may be the changes that make the firm and the industry more inclusive.
“It’s moving slowly but it is moving in the right direction,” Bland said in an interview from his home in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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