Embracing a wide variety of diversity

At his previous company, Will Platt, CFP, CFS, was told by his manager he should only call people who looked like him.

This did not sit well with the one-year MDRT member from New York, New York, for numerous reasons. Though he has blond hair and blue eyes, Platt is the product of an Italian father and a half-German, half-black mother. He also realized that, “If everyone else isn’t calling minorities and women, they’re not getting calls, and they’ll accept mine.”

He saw this as an opportunity, to say nothing of the issue of basic equality. “I’ll work with people who have just as much money and are certainly decision-makers, and will be much more receptive to me,” he said. “I got more appointments that way than calling people my manager claimed I could relate to better.”

In his practice now (launched in 2012 and focusing on investments and insurance for high-net-worth individuals and money management for universities), Platt prioritizes diversity, both in staff and clients. That includes diversity of thought, education, gender, race and professional background. The staff of 11 advisors and two support employees includes team members with experience in engineering and entertainment, as well as finance.

“When you approach a problem with three very different perspectives on how to solve it, that is inherently valuable,” Platt said. “Imagine if you multiply that by class, having someone from a wealthy or poor background. Compound that with race and you can go further — say, African American from the South or the West Coast or New York City.

“Diversity of opinion is valuable not as a goal to penetrate certain markets but as a strategic decision to relate to any client situations that we come across.”

Read more in the Round the Table article “Changing face of business.”