In this issue of InvestmentNews, we celebrate those members of our industry who have dedicated themselves to making the financial advice industry more representative. The progress on this area is tangible, which is reinforced when you look at our annual 40 Under 40 issue. Absent the efforts of the firms and individuals highlighted in these profiles today, that group of young professionals may not have gotten where they are.
Shundrawn Thomas, our Lifetime Achievement Award winner, represents much of what is good about this progress. I’ve had the good fortune to meet Shundrawn a time or two, and look forward to our Sept. 16 webcast. He brings a unique grace and style that we all can learn from. Jeff Benjamin elucidates this grace in a profile on page 8.
“The 2021 winner of the InvestmentNews Excellence in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Lifetime Achievement Award is not the kind of person who seeks recognition for his success nor status as an African American in an industry where women and minorities in leadership are still rare,” Benjamin writes. “But Thomas appreciates and enthusiastically shoulders the opportunity to challenge the status quo, and to help make success stories like his more common.”
But even as we celebrate these accomplishments, the fight for equality is not over. News broke last week, as reported on page 3, that leaves no question that challenges remain.
Fortunately, this is an industry that’s primarily focused on serving all communities.
Business owners and their heirs may be making assumptions instead of having conversations, creating challenges for succession planning, according to new research.
The Kansas-based mega-RIA is giving clients access to dedicated care coaches as new surveys show caregiving duties are straining Americans' finances.
Aspen's affiliated RIAs now manage $15 billion after the New York-based platform added Kalamazoo-based CWS Financial Advisors.
The Chicago-based mega-RIA's latest additions, spanning six office locations and over 40 team members, pushes its W-2 platform assets to roughly $35 billion.
With most of the Great Wealth Transfer set to arrive in their hands, it's time women embraced the generational opportunity to step into their financial independence.
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
Direct indexing is on pace to outgrow ETFs and mutual funds. Northern Trust's Ken Lassner explains why the advisors who get it wish they had started sooner.
