When Sherri DuMond began having  children, she explored  career options that would allow  her the flexibility to spend some time  with her family.

A friend introduced DuMond to a  financial adviser, who encouraged her  to begin a career in that profession.

“I stumbled onto it myself,” said  DuMond, who as a woman remains a  minority in a field in which four out of  five financial advisers are men. Now, as  a regional vice president with Securian  Financial Group Inc. in St. Paul, Minn.,  she leads her company’s recruiting and  retention efforts aimed at encouraging  more women to enter the profession.

On Friday, DuMond, whose firm is  affiliated with Holmes Murphy Financial  Services in West Des Moines, will present  that message at a luncheon in West  Des Moines tailored to key women business  leaders.

“We’ve done several of these events  throughout the country, and we’ve had  good results,” DuMond said. “Women  like to help other women, and they are  great at networking.”

Typically, three-fourths of attendees  have been business leaders,  with the remainder being  women who might be seeking  a career change themselves,  she said.

“What we’re looking for are  women who are already leaders  in the community to bring us  ideas,” she said.”We’re not necessarily  trying to bring them in,  but they probably know someone  who is looking for a career;  they know other women who  would be great at this career.”

Also scheduled to speak at the Feb. 2  luncheon at the Des Moines Golf and  Country Club is Jan Beal, a Cedar  Rapids-based financial adviser with  more than 20 years’ experience.

According to a survey conducted by  Opinion Research Corp. for Securian,  demand clearly exists for more female  advisers. Women surveyed who were  currently without financial advisers and  who had a gender preference indicated  that they would prefer a female over a  male adviser by nearly a 3-to-1 margin.

“There is tremendous opportunity  for the right people to be successful,”  said Jim Mars, managing partner of  Holmes Murphy Financial, whose  firm’s roster of 40 advisers currently  includes four women. “We  want to level the playing field  and have our adviser base be  more reflective of our population.”

Unlike many other professions,  a career as a financial  adviser doesn’t have a glass  ceiling for women, according  to DuMond.

“You don’t reach a level  where you have to get promoted  to the next level,” she  said. “If you look at our women who  have been here five years and longer,  they’re making an average of $153,000  per year. The average for the industry is  $113,000 – We’re proud our people  outperform the industry.”

Also, a career as a financial adviser  can offer the flexibility desired by many  women who want to have families as  well. One of DuMond’s advisers in the  Twin Cities has five children, and she  was able to coordinate her maternity  leave schedules to her clients’ satisfaction,  she said.

Four years ago, Securian launched  its Women’s Interactive Sales Exchange  program, which evolved out of a breakfast  meeting held for women already  working for the firm. Among the activities  that WISE now provides is an  annual convention for the company’s  female advisers.

A national association, Women in  Financial Services (www.w-wifs.org),  is also available to support women  who are already working in the profession.  The organization has chapters in  11 states, but does not yet have an  Iowa chapter.

Overall, recruiting and retention  efforts are being made more on a company-  by-company basis, DuMond said.  Securian’s efforts have shown results;  last year 27 percent of its newly hired  candidates were female. In total, about  18 percent of the company’s advisers  are women.

“I’ve been asked to speak at many  industry meetings just because we’re  doing this a little bit differently,” she  said. “I don’t have any reluctance in  sharing what we’re doing. As more  women come in,we all win.”

For more information about the  luncheon, call Abby Gottner at Holmes  Murphy Financial, 224-4032 or e-mail  her at <a href="mailto:abby.gottner@holmesmurphyfs.  com”>abby.gottner@holmesmurphyfs.com.