The Economic Policy Institute, a non-partisan nonprofit that performs economic research, reported that the average wealth for African-American families was low compared with that of white families in 2013: Blacks had an average wealth of $95,261 compared with the average $678,737 for whites. Figures such as these further polarize wealth management and the African-American community. In 2017, the Washington Post reported that less than 2 percent of black households were worth more than $1 million while 15 percent of white households were and 2.3 percent of Hispanic households were.

“Income gaps, wealth gaps and differences in financial asset profiles have historically made black households less attractive and less sought after as clients when compared to white households,” wrote Kenneth White Jr., an assistant professor at the University of Georgia, and Stuart Heckman, an assistant professor at Kansas State University, in their study, “Financial Planner Use Among Black and Hispanic Households.”

There is definitely a wealth gap among racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. However, there’s still wealth in each group and there’s still people in need of financial advice.

“The demand [for African-American advisors] is already here; it far outstretches the supply,” said Clement. “There is such an overwhelming need for advice in the African-American community.”

“We’re going to need to find a way to get more [advisors who are] African-Americans to meet that demand,” he continued. “It’s a matter of how do we begin to chip away at meeting that need.”

Beverly speaks at colleges and universities about the financial advising profession.

“What I really try to get people to see is you need to see this career like you would see any other career,” he said. “No one is born wanting to be a [financial advisor].”

Believing that black advisors will end up serving a mostly black clientele or end up with a firm whose definition of inclusion is limited to their hiring process isn’t far-fetched. There’s an existing and prevalent thought that businesses should reflect the racial, ethnic and gender demographics of the communities they operate in. The concept is not wrong, but businesses find themselves in trouble when they force employees into or out of positions for the sake of reflecting the community.

For example, an African-American registered rep filed a complaint against J.P. Morgan for allegedly coercing him to relocate from managing four branches in New York City that included the Bronx, Castle Hill and Parkchester areas (places that are multi-racial and multi-ethnic but have low numbers of African-Americans) to manage its branch in Harlem (a mostly black area) because it was the “right fit” for him. The advisor, who lived in the Bronx, favored the other areas over Harlem because he claimed those branches managed more money than the Harlem branch.

Beverly also explained there’s a “disconnect between what [potential black advisors] want to do and what they have to do to pay bills” that leads them to believe that they must have wealth in order to enter into the wealth management profession. Whether they are interested in the broker-dealer side or the registered investment advisor side, Beverly and Clement aim to provide guidance on how they can financially obtain their career goals.