Impax Asset Management marketing boss, Neville Vyas, has championed financial education and the importance of diverse marketing recruitment in a new podcast.
The boutique fund group’s head of marketing (EMEA & APAC), told The Growth Engine Marketing Podcast that the industry needs to “go further and faster” in broadening recruitment pathways to appeal to those from “poorer or working class backgrounds”.
Vyas applauded several industry initiatives during the interview and encouraged companies to take time to understand the people they recruit from non-traditional backgrounds.
“If you take the time to hire people from diverse backgrounds, you should take the time to listen to them,” he said.
“It is easy to talk over them because you are more experienced. Senior leaders are good at talking. We need to take a moment to let them speak and let them be heard.”
Vyas, who has enjoyed an impressive career with periods at Fidelity Investments, Axa Investment Managers, Allianz Global Investors and PwC prior to Impax Asset Management, said he has learnt to use his experience to identify the right “attributes” in people that he hires.
“I’m often looking for detectives,” he said. “When you work in a big firm, it is not easy to know who does what, and how they do it.
“You need to be a bit of a detective to find out where to even start the project you’ve been given – Asking lots of questions and having the grit and the stamina no navigate the organisation. I’m looking for someone who could be a good detective.”
Vyas also used the platform to underscore the importance of marketers at smaller firms recognising the inter-connectedness of marcomms functions when working towards strategic goals.
“At a boutique firm you do get to see all sides of it, whether it is digital, content, events or comms. If you can bring that together and bring some of the stakeholders with you, magical things can happen.”
The full interview is now available on the Apple Podcast platform. Click here to listen to the interview in full.