"I came into the industry in 2000, and it has been quite lonely. … I would see the guys [at my previous wirehouse] sharing insight about what they were doing with their clients, and they wouldn't share it with me."
Zanelia Harris
president of Harris and Harris Wealth Management Group.“It is not just that you have to work harder; you have to be over-credentialed and over-qualified just to be at a good starting point. There's almost a 'be glad you're here' mentality with some counterparts because there are so few us. … We live in a constant state of being uncomfortable.”
Lazetta Braxton
founder of Financial Fountains“Because of the wealth disparity problem, you have to get more clients if they are going to be all African American or minority, in order to get to the same numbers [in AUM]. You will have to get double or triple the number of people, which ends up making you work harder and more.”
James Brewer
founder of Envision Wealth Planning“After 27 years in the business, I'm still going to places where I'm the minority.”
Crystal Alford-Cooper
financial adviser“Good mentoring is extremely important and it certainly wasn't there when I started in the industry 20 years ago. … As a senior adviser, being able to mentor with a junior adviser is instrumental not only for them, but for me, too.”
Gerald Loftin
principal, Proficient Wealth Advisors“I have worked harder [at previous firms] than my counterparts not only because I worked 10 hours a day, but I was also working three to four hours after work helping other people who I know really needed the help; they didn't fit into the firm structure. But in my heart I have to help them.”
Rianka Dorsainvil
founder, Your Greatest Contribution
Also, Orion has added BlackRock, Fidelity, and Vanguard to its custom portfolios suite, and RedBlack has set up a new headquarters after crossing a trillion-dollar milestone.
Also, New York-based Legacy Edge Advisors names its first-ever CEO, while Novare Capital Management hires a Vanguard veteran with a multigenerational planning focus.
Asset managers are racing to bring private market products to retirement plans, but cost and liquidity concerns linger.
Treasury's latest tax-exemption crackdown on private schools lands in the wake of a separate push to restrict refundable credits for some immigrant filers.
Workforce trust measures predicted which companies came out ahead during COVID-19. The same dynamic may now be playing out across the AI transition — and the data suggests the spread could be just as wide.
Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains
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
