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Currently, we're at Waitangi Park, just behind Chaffer Dock in Wellington. So we're celebrating the Pride Festival this year. So this is the first day of the two week festival that's going on. Um, yeah, and there are a lot of rainbows. It's amazing. It's an amazing amount of people. Yeah, so good. And the pride that came in this morning was so good having the youth groups march in with all their pride. They said, 1234, open up the closet door, which was amazing, you know? And it's great that [00:00:30] you've got young, really young people coming in to pride who are just exposed to stuff like this and who are still fighting the fight. So yeah, it's good. And so which store are you here today with? So I am the Mercer Kiwisaver store. So we're just talking to people about kiwisaver about savings and obviously raising awareness with the young people and financial wellness retirement planning. But there's quite a few people who don't I don't know what Mercer do because we are, you know, are quite [00:01:00] small compared with the banks. Um, so it's just promoting our products, but also financial wellness as a whole. Does financial wellness impact rainbow LGBTI communities differently than than the wider community? Yeah, absolutely. So Mercer released some research. Um, just last year, in terms of the ageing workforce. Um, because what we do find, um and this isn't a generalisation. This is just what the research shows. So, um, older rainbow community members are less likely to have Children [00:01:30] possibly less likely to be married or have a partner, um, at later stages of life. And so they do. They do really suffer financially when they don't have some dependent to to kind of grow old with, um, but also with the ageing workforce going into care homes as well we're talking about, um, you know, if someone identifies a particular way and they go into a home, there's huge education to be done around that. So it's making sure they feel comfortable enough to go into a home [00:02:00] that is, is where they can be gender affirming and be proud of who they are and not be forced to wear the wrong clothing. So, yeah, it's, um it's just setting people up, Um, for for the future, really. And I think you know, there's a lot of things that the rainbow community do suffer from. And I think being financially aware, you know, normally kids will turn to a parent or, um, you know, someone senior in their family, they might not even have that. So they have a very kind of youthful community around them, which is great, [00:02:30] but they might not have someone who can give them guidance and stuff like this. So does Mercer have any specific rainbow or GB kind of policies? Yeah, absolutely. So, um, last year we got our rainbow tick, and as part of that, we've just tried to find the gaps and the holes in our policies. And so the, um, this year we released our transitioning in the workplace, Um, guidelines. So for anyone who's transitioning at work and we find there's not much advice for either [00:03:00] the person who needs to transition or or HR and people managers who are helping the person transition. And so we've also made all our parental leave policies inclusive. So whether that's surrogacy, same sex couples, single parents, everyone gets treated the same. So equality is a huge thing for us. And what does the rainbow tick mean? So for us, the rainbow tick means that starting to join, um, a collective group of, um of companies and government. Private. It [00:03:30] doesn't matter who you are. Um, just to kind of share ideas. Um, it takes away the competition of trying to sell a product and breaks down those walls. And it's where we can share ideas and give advice. You know, we've done our HR policies. We know some people are at the start, their rainbow tick journey. So we want to help them along, and it for us. Also. We can, you know, put something like a rainbow on the website. People go and go to us. They know we're inclusive and diverse. It's not just about, um, but it's not just about [00:04:00] the label. For us, it's It's the essence of Mercer being diverse and inclusive. So we have, um, resource groups for pride, for women, for gender equality, but also for a accessibility and inclusion. Mental health awareness, um, racially, racially and ethical. Um, you know, policies and being mindful of that. So it's it's diversity as a whole for us. So is this the first time that has been at a pride event Uh, no. So this is the second time we've done [00:04:30] a Wellington pride event. Um, and we have also done a couple in Melbourne. We do midsummer, and we're trying to get into the Sydney Mardi Gras scene as well. So we're just trying to raise our profile, I think mainly to show that we're an inclusive, um, employer as well. You know, like there's great talent out there and it's been proved that you need a diverse workforce in order to do well in business. So we want young, well, young and old to know that we are diverse and we're welcoming. So if you've had troubles [00:05:00] in the past with different companies that don't accept you for who you are, come to us, you know, the whole the whole essence for us is bring your whole self to work. So we have a running hashtag at work to to bring your whole self because if you can't, then it's detrimental to you to your mental health, to your colleagues. You're not productive. You don't you know you struggle. So So you have to be able to do that on a personal note. What does it mean for you to be here today. Uh, for me. Well, um, as a member of the Rainbow [00:05:30] community, I have always attended a pride wherever I can. Last year, I thought, you know what? I'm going to bring Mercer to to pride. And for me, it was getting people aware of what kiwisaver is to be honest and helping them with the financial education and financial wellness. Because so many people don't know what it is. They don't know why it's there. They're scared of it. Um, they think people are going to take the money or they're gonna lose money. So for me, it's just it's getting people aware of of what they can do with their money and getting them set [00:06:00] up for for life. Really? You know, and I I want to help them. And obviously, being part of the rainbow community is really important for me to educate those younger than me, um, to to to their potential, as as anything. If somebody couldn't attend today, for whatever reason, do you have a message for those people? Well, so plug me. So, um, we do me a financial services dot co dot U dot co dot NZ. So go to the website. We have our Kiwi saver [00:06:30] and flexi saver products. We have free financial advice so you can ring us and speak to someone for free to work out what you want to do with your money. Um, we are a diverse and inclusive employer. So if you're looking to get into the financial, um, workforce or the corporate workforce or you want a change, we do such an array of things, then get in touch with us if you're interested. Um, and I think holistically, you know, you're not alone. There [00:07:00] are thousands and millions and billions of people out there that are part of the rainbow community. And I know if you're at home and if you're struggling with coming to terms with maybe differences within yourself, um or, you know, you're scared that, you know, maybe your parents or your relatives won't accept you. There is an entire rainbow family out there that will take you, so just don't be afraid. And, uh, yeah, we'll support you.
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