The senseless murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and most recently George Floyd, have been deeply and utterly disturbing. The longstanding violence against unarmed citizens of this nation has a familiar and painful stench.
The uncertainty of the current times, highlights unsolved issues and a violent racial history, a persistently painful wound we know too well.
Some believe conversations about race have no place in the workplace but we at Momentum Advisors and Momentum Risk Management took time to discuss these matters thoughtfully, to grieve, to pause and to reflect. As a minority-owned firm we understand that implicit bias, discrimination and racism have often been laying in plain sight at the core of our financial systems. These factors have played a key role in the creation and legacy of the wealth in this country, and our firms refuse to separate our professionalism from our humanity.
We recognize our firm is well positioned to advocate change. We stand with and amplify the voices of the protesters and vow to use our collective power for good. We support a number of organizations from civil rights organizations to community sports teams. We lead financial literacy classes for disadvantaged communities, churches and schools. We are intentional that the people we hire reflect the world we live in. When they meet our screening criteria, we prioritize diverse-owned funds, and pay attention to ethical practices of companies because that affects returns and is the right thing to do. We are proud to align our clients’ investments with their values, but as a firm, we can and will do more.
Here are additional steps we plan to take to promote change. We invite other firms to join us.
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BLACK BUSINESSES MATTER. Seed and fund Black and brown-owned businesses. Of the venture capital funding in 2018, only 3% went to founders of color.
BLACK INVESTMENT MANAGERS MATTER. Less than 1% of the $71.4 trillion in managed money is managed by a minority manager, like Ariel Investments, Brown Capital Management, Muller and Monroe and FIS.
BLACK FIRMS MATTER. Partner with a Black or brown-owned firm to bid on contracts in a way that helps them grow.
BLACK BOARD MEMBERS MATTER. Insist the companies you invest in or outsource have diversity in leadership and on the board.
BLACK COLLEGES MATTER. Give back to historically Black colleges and universities and hire their graduates. These institutions allow students to discuss their history and celebrate self-love.
BLACK NONPROFITS MATTER. Donate to The National Urban League, Color of Change, the Toigo Foundation, the Partnership and more.
BLACK LEGACY MATTERS. Within the Black community, we promote home ownership, real estate investments, opportunity zone investments, retirement planning and the purchase and maintenance of life insurance.
Our hope and our belief resides in the nation’s resilience. We believe that our country is overdue for this time of collective awakening and we will continue to work toward a brighter future and emerge a better union for all.
