New mission for African American advisor trade group

investmentnews.com:

With the changing demographics in the United States, the financial advice industry may finally be reaching the realization it needs to hire more African American financial advisors, a severely underrepresented group in mainstream wealth management.

Christian Nwasike is determined to be a big part of that push.

Nwasike, 45, is chairman of the board of the Association of African American Financial Advisors and a former financial advisor, who started his career in the 2000s at the old Wachovia Securities, which merged with Wells Fargo Advisors in the financial crisis. Nwasike currently serves as principal and executive managing partner at a consulting firm, Practice Management Consultants.

The Association of African American Financial Advisors, a nonprofit also known as Quad AAAA, has been around since 2001, but it’s making a concentrated effort to raise its profile as an advocate for African American financial advisors and clients, with the goal of increasing both the number of Black financial advisors in the industry and the number of African American families who have a financial plan.

At the association’s meetings as recently as five years ago, fewer than 100 people attended. The group expects 1,000 industry participants at its annual meeting in Washington, D.C., this September. Quad AAAA now has 1,400 dues-paying members who are licensed financial advisors.

InvestmentNews spoke with Nwasike in June at a meeting in New York focused on recruiting young and potential advisors, as well as practice management training for experienced advisors. About a dozen major firms, from Merrill Lynch to Edward Jones, attended and were sponsors.

InvestmentNews: Why has the organization chosen this moment to emphasize outreach to