Female financial advisors made up just 25.7 percent of the total in the same year. Add to that the fact that minorities have even less of a presence — in a 2011 SIFMA report on workplace diversity, just 8 percent of brokers or advisors at 18 large financial services firms fell into that category.

American Banker, in an article published Friday, noted that many financial firms hope to bring more women into management and front-line positions, in part because research suggests that a representative workforce improves the bottom line.

Last fall, Schwab Advisor Services announced its RIA Talent Advantage, an initiative designed to help advisory firms recruit more women.

So how does TD Ameritrade Institutional plan to address all of this? Two ways: education and by filling the pipeline.

The firm is expanding its Next Generation Financial Planning Scholarship & Grants program this year. With the addition of two new awards that will be targeted specifically toward women and minorities, that will make a total of 12 scholarships available annually.

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Previously the firm had made annual awards of 10 scholarships of $5,000 each to students who were pursuing a bachelor's degree in financial planning. Now there will be 12 — and while the firm said that students of all backgrounds were encouraged to apply, the two new scholarships will ensure that diversity is incorporated into the awards. It may not be huge, but it's a start.

The firm said in its announcement that "the lack of diversity in the RIA workforce could be a challenge for advisors hoping to serve a changing, younger client base."

That's particularly true since millennials are far more diverse than the boomer generation, according to the Pew Research Center. While 40 percent of millennials are ethnically diverse, just 25 percent of boomers are — and TD Ameritrade's research has found that the wealthiest millennials are far more inclined to work with "someone who is like them."

What might have a bigger, and longer-term effect, is the launch of the RIA NextGen Career Exchange, billed by the firm as the industry's first free job and resume posting site for RIAs and job seekers.

Also read: Failing to live up to diversity, inclusion goals

Prior to this, according to the firm, neither students pursuing a career in financial planning, nor the RIAs who might hire them, had a single place to go online to connect with each other.

Now, however, through the exchange, students can post resumes and search for jobs and internships, while advisors can post job and internship openings and search for qualified candidates. After creating an account, both students and RIAs can use the site free of charge.

The firm is also working with its RIA Intern Network to provide advisors with the information they need to run beneficial internship programs, as well as with secondary academic institutions to encourage the development and expansion of financial planning education.

Texas A&M University has been the recipient of a multiyear sponsorship by the firm to support development of its financial planning program. It will now receive a grant to develop what TD Ameritrade Institutional President Tom Nally called a "top-tier financial planning program."