Eliana Sydes: “Never give up”

From being a female financial adviser in a #MeToo era to the gamification of technology, the landscape of financial advice is changing.

Eliana Sydes, the Chartered Financial Planner from Tilney’s Exeter office, is incredibly modest for someone who recently claimed not one, but two Women in Financial Advice Awards in the same evening.

At last October’s glittering ceremony in London, she picked up Financial Adviser of the Year (South West & Wales) and then went on to be crowned UK Financial Adviser of the Year.

“I was incredibly flattered,” she reflects. “And I was very, very excited as I hadn’t even realised there was an overall award. I was completely shocked!”

It’s been a long road to the top for Eliana, who has spent 18 years working in technology with HP Digital and Dell.

In the early stages of her career there was little support for women working in her industry and sexism was something she encountered regularly. One case was particularly sinister.

As she recalls: “Somebody I worked with said if I slept with him he would give me more business.”

In her twenties at the time, she immediately attempted to report what amounted to sexual harassment but was met by a brick wall, “I went to HR and his manager to complain and they said, ‘What do you expect? You’re a woman in business.’”

In light of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, which went viral on social media in 2018 and have shone a light on sexual assault, harassment and inequality in workplaces far beyond their Hollywood origins, does Eliana believe the financial world is changing for the better?

“It [sexism] still needs challenging,” she explains. “There’s not enough women giving [financial] advice, which means we are not sufficiently diverse. It’s definitely harder to get an even view out there. That’s not to say a woman has to get her advice from another woman, but the industry still has a biased, wonky viewpoint.”

In Eliana’s view, the solution is obvious. Companies should be hiring more female financial advisers. As she highlights, “People prefer talking to someone who understands their circumstances. If someone has had an illness it helps to speak to someone who has experienced the same. Likewise, women who’ve raised children and want to talk about their finances may prefer to speak to someone with a similar background.”

She clarifies: “That’s just human nature to want to shortcut the explanation process, it doesn’t mean we have to only talk to somebody who has experienced it, but it helps if you can shortcut some of the language.”

When it comes to implementing new technology, Eliana believes there are many reasons for optimism. Indeed, she believes the world of financial advice is on the verge of an exciting new age.

“I think technology could be a really positive influence,” she reflects. “We as an industry need to embrace this and find ways of communicating about technology.”

That said, she admits it’s baby steps at the moment. “Because I came from a technology background I’m still shocked about the gap between what is possible and what is delivered in this industry.”

Using innovations in the fintech space to make such a number-heavy world more accessible to the next generation is another area that Eliana believes is worth exploring.

“What I would love to see — because it’s really boring entering stuff in tables — is to turn it into something that is fun, interactive or competitive,” she posits.

“We really haven’t understood how people interact with technology fully.”

In her view, it’s obvious that targeting millennials is a necessity, not a gimmick. “Hopefully there’s going to be a lot more of this kind of thing and it’s going to grow and grow because I think particularly young people now turn to it for information. And we’ve got to respect that that’s the right way to think about it. I love technology, I don’t know why we don’t do a lot more of it.”

One of the reasons why Eliana is so keen to engage youngsters is through her experience with her own 15-year-old daughter. “She inspires me,” she says. “To talk to a youngster about the future, you have to understand where they are coming from. What’s more the more time you spend with younger people, the more you’ll be open to change.”

When it comes to passing on advice to women starting out in business, her message is simple and inspirational. “Never give up,” says the UK Financial Adviser of the Year. “Sometimes you can lose confidence when you’re at home raising kids, but don’t give up. Believe in yourself and never stop learning.”