Raymond James has named Samantha Trebesch, senior vice president of sustainable investing, as its new head of Advisor Inclusion Networks, the division that oversees numerous underrepresented groups within the company. She replaces Renee Baker, who had led Advisor Inclusion Networks since September 2019; Baker stepped down this month to take a “voluntary career sabbatical.”
Trebesch will continue to oversee sustainable investing for Raymond James’s Private Client Group. She first joined the firm as an assistant to the chairman in 2017, before becoming a vice president of strategic initiatives in the PCG several years later, according to her LinkedIn page.
In a statement about her new role, Trebesch said she was looking forward to leading the Advisor Inclusion Networks, with the Women Financial Advisors Network dating back nearly 30 years.
“I’m excited to join that legacy and work in partnership with the networks as we continue to foster an environment where every individual feels welcomed, supported and valued,” she said.
The Advisor Inclusion Networks support certain groups within the firm’s advisor pool offering “resources, strategies and a forum for sharing ideas,” according to the network’s page. The AIN includes the Women’s Network, as well as the Black, Pride and Veteran Financial Advisors Networks, which launched last November.
As part of her new role, Trebesch will provide centralized leadership and corporate support for the financial advisor networks, and help each network host an annual symposium open to Raymond James advisors (as well as others in the industry).
Prior to her stint at Raymond James, Trebesch worked as a high school math and computer programming teacher, as well as the head of the math and computer science department at the United Nations International School of Hanoi in Vietnam. She also co-founded the firm’s Sustainable Investing Advisory Council in 2018 shortly after joining the firm.
The Advisor Inclusion Networks launched in 2019 to assist some of the networks already in place, including the Women’s Network launched in 1994, and the Black Financial Advisors Network, which launched nearly 10 years ago.
During Pride Month in June 2020, the firm launched the Pride Network for advisors identifying as LGBTQ+ (though its inaugural kickoff event was postponed into 2021 due to COVID-19). In addition to holding networking events, the group offers resources to help advisors working with LGBTQ+ clients, and also introduced unconscious bias training for leaders and associates.