African Americans who left major legacies in wealth management, finance and business haven't received their due, according to Cedric Nash, founder of the
"I think that we need to know more about these folks and the impact that they've had," Nash said in an interview. "I think they need to become household names."
In honor of Black History Month, Financial Planning compiled the profiles below and at the following links on five legendary figures from the fields of wealth, investment management and personal finance:
Nash is blazing trails
"We have to find a way to fully educate our community about the sacrifices and the accomplishments," Nash said. "Genius is kind of random. It's not reserved to people who are white, Jewish, Asian or whatever. There's genius everywhere."
Learning about the legends and participating in efforts like the Black Wealth Summit that help more people gain access to the tools of wealth-building gives the industry an opportunity to build the long-term foundation to narrow racial disparities while creating ties to the aspiring professionals and investors of tomorrow, according to Nash.
Money-related trauma stemming from the country's history is often "poisoning our mindset against the things that will actually benefit us if we invest appropriately and responsibly," he said. On the other hand, much of the industry has been "redirecting their attention to other things" in recent years, even though, "What we're trying to do with the Black Wealth Summit has a direct impact to their bottom line," he added. Young people's potential investment portfolios may hold the key to both problems — if they develop financial literacy.
"That's the group that's going to close the racial wealth gap, because they have time on their side," Nash said. "It's not because they lack intellect. It's because they lack mentorship of people who don't have a dog in the fight and don't want to take advantage of them. Building wealth is slow, and you have to have someone mentor you through those ups and downs. It takes time and resources and people who are willing to lend their time and their expertise."
To see excerpts from the five profiles with links to the full articles, scroll down the slideshow. And find other stories about Black financial advisors and wealth management professionals' accomplishments here:
A family's 'Shining Legacy' and untold stories of Black wealth Financial advisors team up to build industry's first Black-owned $1B RIA Here's how planner David Stevens is building toward a billion-dollar firm Kamila Elliott is ready to make history, help people as first Black CFP Board chair CFP Chair Kamila Elliott, partners launch RIA to close racial wealth gap Foundations tap RIA as endowments fuel diversity in asset management Ariel expands into new fields as an industry pioneer and force for change RIA clients invest $18.5M in impact startup's first private equity fund
