Financial service industry veteran Wayne Dictor has worked with clientele in Central Florida and Tampa Bay for decades, offering securities and investment planning along with pensions, 401Ks, IRAs, life insurance, annuity investments and long-term care policies. It just so happens that most of his clients are LGBTQ+.
“I got into the financial industry in 1982, right out of college,” Dictor says. The longtime ally says he began working with openly LGBTQ+ members of the community in 1985, which has grown over the years to become “over 75% of my book of business.”
“It was just natural,” he says, citing word of mouth. “I’ve been in the business for over 40 years and it just happens to be the largest percentage. It’s like opening a doctor’s office. If you’re a physician, you get who comes in the door, then you have certain clients who start referring their family or referring their friends, people they associate with. That’s how I built my book of business over the years.”
Dictor is president of Dictor Financial LLC, which he operates primarily through referrals. He says he handles clients and businesses of low or high net worth.
“I always take a referral regardless of their value because if people feel good enough to refer to me and think I can help a friend or family member, I show them the courtesy of doing that,” he says. One way he’s served clients for over 13 years is as a registered principal of Raymond James Financial Services.
The global financial firm’s website says its focus “is on providing trusted advice and tailored, sophisticated strategies for individuals and institutions.” It promises to do so as “a financial services firm as unique as the people we serve.”
“Raymond James has always been a different kind of financial services firm, embracing long-term planning, valuing methodical decision-making and remaining focused on what matters most: People,” the firm notes. A key part of that is their commitment to diversity and inclusion.
That’s evident at its international headquarters in St. Petersburg, where they regularly raise the Pride flag, partner with local LGBTQ+ organizations and have created company-wide inclusion networks for LGBTQ+ employees, advisors and their allies.
Dictor says he’s proud to have joined Raymond James’ Pride Financial Advisors Network this year. He did so after attending Raymond James’ national meeting, where he networked with some of its members at a Pride Financial Advisors Network breakfast.
“We got to talking and I realized these were my people,” he explains. “Philosophically and socially, we were on the same track.”
“The Pride Financial Advisors Network welcomes professionals with a demonstrated commitment to fiercely and honestly serving the LGBTQ+ community,” the group’s official synopsis reads. “And whether you’re a like-minded advisor, advocate or ally, our network invites you to thrive as your most authentic self, both personally and professionally. Our mission is to pave the way for meaningful change, so we can all move forward — together.”
One way they accomplish that is through the network’s Business of Pride Symposium. Their third annual event was held at the end of Pride month in St. Petersburg.
“The Business of Pride Symposium offers the opportunity to learn about topics that resonate with the LGBTQ+ community,” Raymond James’ website reads. “You can connect with industry experts, Raymond James executives and a powerful network of like-minded advisors and advocates, all of whom are dedicated to helping you grow personally and professionally. The time is right to understand the ways our businesses can represent and serve the financial planning needs of the LGBTQ+ community.”
Dictor proudly attended.
“The firm is very inclusive,” he says. “It looks to reach out to diverse groups and bring them in … The Business of Pride means we’re looking to create a safe space — because the financial advisor’s role, for a lack of a better term, sees people come out to us every day.
“If I bring you in to work with me as a client, you’re going to tell me things about your finances, about your family, about your life, things that you probably wouldn’t share with a number of other people,” he continues. “Sometimes not even your family. If I’m dealing with your finances, and they are such an incredibly important part of your overall life, you’re going to tell me things that you might not tell somebody else.”
It’s just one of the things that makes allyship along with an understanding of equity and inclusion so important, Dictor notes.
“In my business, it’s not just about me knowing what’s going on in the market — what companies are doing what, what funds are doing certain things, how they’re approaching the business — it’s important for me to understand you as my client, too,” he explains. “This network is trying to make it more accessible for people in the LGBTQ+ community to have a safe space.”
In the financial services industry, existing data says that’s critical. According to last year’s Retirement Confidence Survey, conducted for the 32nd year by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald Research, LGBTQ+ Americans are less likely to have confidence about living comfortably through retirement.
They’re also less likely to seek financial guidance, Dictor adds. He says according to one survey by Goldman Sachs, the major investment bank and financial services company, 78% of the LGBTQ+ community does not have a financial advisor.
“That’s a huge number,” he says, something advisors like Dictor are working to change. The symposium stressed just how important it is to do so.
“It’s one thing to walk in and open an account with a broker,” he says. “It’s another thing to open an account with a broker and literally sit there and wonder, ‘what are that particular person’s prejudices? And am I something they’re prejudiced about?’
“I understand what hate is and hate is a deplorable thing,” he continues. “But I didn’t know what it took for many members of the LGBTQ+ community to have the same level of comfort I have when it comes to walking into an office like my own. I want to help champion them, that’s why I aligned myself with this. I’m proud to say that I’m associated with a firm of this nature.”
All comments and opinions are those of Wayne Dictor and not Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.
Investment Advisory Services are offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Dictor Financial LLC is not a registered broker dealer and is independent of Raymond James Financial Services.
For more information about Dictor Financial LLC, call 407-942-3366 or email Wayne Dictor at Wayne@DictorFinancial.com.
