Inclusivity in the workplace creates a trickle-down effect – Azam
To celebrate South Asian Heritage Month, Mortgage Solutions spoke to mortgage professionals about their heritage, culture and ethnic background – and how it formed who they are today.
This week, we spoke to Ismail Azam (pictured), mortgage adviser at L&C. Azam was one of the winners at the British Mortgage Awards 2026 – he won the Distributor Rising Star award.
Azam comes from an Indian Sikh and Pakistani Muslim background. He said he grew up in a predominantly white area and that his identity was often “shaken”.
Azam drew inspiration from a recent appointment at L&C, when Sidney Wager joined as the managing director, noting: “It used to be easy to joke that the senior team was mostly made up of middle-class white men, but that has been changing. When I saw Sidney join, it honestly changed my perspective. I thought, ‘wow’. That’s definitely the representation we needed to inspire others.”
He further added about Wager: “He is unapologetically himself… that gave me the self-belief that I am going to be me too.”
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Unconscious biases need to be overcome
We discussed what this year’s South Asian Heritage Month theme meant to Azam. He spoke of the need to break down any barriers that could prevent minority groups entering the mortgage industry or the opportunity to progress once working in the market.
“It’s counterintuitive to exclude anyone when there’s so much talent. Celebrating South Asian Heritage Month isn’t about ranking people’s experiences or deciding whose challenges matter more, it’s about recognising a community’s history and contribution, while improving education, understanding and inclusion for everyone,” he noted.
Azam is a member of L&C’s employee resource group (ERG), headed by Rachel Eason-Whale, who he said “does so much for the industry and she’s fantastic.”
Eason-Whale formed a group called ‘We Belong’, an inclusivity and diversity initiative at L&C. Azam spoke of this forum as an opportunity for monthly discussions on diversity in all its forms. Conversations have spanned race, sexuality, ableism, and ageism, with a focus on creating a more inclusive workspace for all.
By transforming the conversations and the broader work culture, he said he is hopeful for a “trickle-down effect” that fosters greater inclusivity among colleagues and clients.
Azam noted the ongoing challenges and discussed potential issues that the wider mortgage industry should keep questioning.
Azam said that the industry may not typically see as many South Asian clients day to day and so may not understand some of the structural and economic barriers that may have prevented homeownership.
Azam added that any stereotypes about Asians may fail to be quashed as quickly as they should due to this more limited contact.
He said that some advisers may be put off by customers who may come from a background with limited to no English. Previous experiences could see advisers forming an unfair opinion or avoiding taking on clients because of the additional time required with non-native English speakers.
He added: “You could have some advisers that might think: ‘The last person I dealt with that didn’t have an English name wasn’t from this country and couldn’t speak English confidently.’
“Advisers need to challenge themselves on whether they may be carrying any unconscious biases but we also need more open conversations to help that education, so they will know how to better navigate the mortgage conversation with those customers.”
Uplifting ethnic heritage in the workplace
Azam emphasised the importance of those within the South Asian communities needing to lift one another up.
He commented: “We don’t need symbolic actions, we need structural change”.
Azam spoke of the financial services industry being a more welcome space for ethnic minorities: “There’s of course more to be done, but I can see progress in the opportunities in the mortgage market. If you’re good at numbers, spearheading projects, project management… it doesn’t matter if you’re Black, White, Asian, but it matters that you are good at what you are doing.”
Azam finished the conversation by discussing the legacy of British Asians in the last 80 years. For people today, he said: “I just want anyone who’s Black or Asian, who feels a bit worried about entering a space that might be predominantly White, to think: ‘No, we deserve to be at the table just as much as the next person’.”
