Counting coup: Trailblazing B-D attracts funds from Indian Country

Although casinos and other businesses have helped Native American tribes amass an estimated $50 billion in capital, some tribal leaders feel they're still being ignored by Wall Street. The answer: NativeOne Institutional Trading LLC, a brokerage which was founded last year by Donald Lyons, a member of the Morongo band of Mission Indians in Banning, Calif. The tribe operates a successful casino and resort near Palm Springs, Calif. NativeOne will represent American Indian financial interests on Wall Street, the company's co-founder said in an interview. It is the first Native American-owned broker-dealer to be registered with the New York Stock Exchange. The main goal was a “level financial playing field,” said Dennis Smith, co-founder of the firm. The broker-dealer executes trades for tribal funds and has helped refinance tribal projects. In addition, NativeOne has conducted financial seminars for some tribal members. American Indian tribes operate more than 300 casinos in the U.S., and Mr. Smith wants NativeOne to use tribal financial strength to help bring more Native Americans to Wall Street. “Historically, Native Americans have not had much background in the financial industry,” he said. As a result, tribes were “not always treated equally or fairly by financial institutions.” The firm aims to help more Native Americans make their way into the financial industry by sponsoring internships with a portion of its profits. So far, it has set up two internships and it tries to negotiate other work opportunities at Wall Street firms with which it does business, Mr. Smith said. “We recognize that education is a primary need in Indian country,” he said. Eventually, the firm wants to attract Native American financial advisers to set up offices on tribal lands, but for now, Mr. Smith is concentrating on executing market trades for tribal members and helping Native Americans and Canadian First Nation members manage their money wisely.