Year 5 in review
As Zenith Wealth Partners reaches our fifth-year milestone, we reflect on our growth journey with a deepened focus and renewed commitment to our core values. What began as a vision to address systemic wealth inequality has evolved into a thriving, mission-driven advisory firm with an expanding impact.
Our commitment to excellence and inclusion remains at the forefront, with Year 5's achievements testifying to our team's dedication and our clients' trust. Let's review this significant year's highlights and set the stage for the future.
This year, as part of a strategic planning exercise to chart our course forward, we took a deliberate step back to sharpen our focus on the values that define who we are and how we operate. These values are more than just words—they are the foundation of everything we do and are uniquely aligned with our mission to address systemic wealth inequality.
Collaborate: Internally, collaboration is essential to our success. We’ve made it a priority to foster stronger connections within our team and with our service providers. By creating a culture of teamwork, open communication, and shared ownership of goals, we ensure that everyone at Zenith has a voice and a role in delivering the best possible outcomes. This collaborative spirit is key to our innovation and to driving the high-quality results our clients expect.
Aspire: Our clients are often trailblazers, the first in their families or industries to achieve significant financial success. This ambition pushes us to match their drive by constantly innovating and delivering high-quality solutions to their complex needs. Ambition isn't just about growth—it's about breaking barriers and redefining what's possible, both for our clients and for ourselves.
Include: Externally, we continue to emphasize inclusivity in every client and strategic partner relationship. We believe that high-quality financial advice should have no limitations—everyone, regardless of race, gender, or background, deserves access to wealth-building opportunities. Our commitment to inclusivity means creating a welcoming environment for diverse clients and working alongside mission-aligned strategic partners to reach communities historically left out of financial systems. It is through this inclusivity that we can foster more profound, meaningful connections and drive systemic change.
Excel: Excellence is the standard we hold ourselves to in every client interaction. Over the past year, we fine-tuned our processes and implemented new partnerships, all to ensure that we exceeded the high expectations set by our clients and ourselves. Excellence means never settling—it’s a continuous pursuit of better, more impactful solutions.
These values are uniquely appropriate for Zenith because they directly support our mission to eliminate wealth inequality and deliver high-quality financial outcomes to all. As we look ahead, these guiding principles will continue to shape our journey and fuel our growth.
A Key Metric: Wealth Generation
In Year 5, we sharpened our focus on wealth generation—a key metric that reflects the quality of our work and the direct impact we aim to have. Our goal of generating $1 billion in wealth for our clients isn’t just a lofty target; it’s a critical measure of our mission to address systemic wealth disparities by race and gender. By the end of this year, we surpassed $50 million in wealth generated—a significant step towards that goal.
Wealth generation for people of color, women, and the institutions they care about is more than a financial metric for us; it’s an impact metric that underscores the meaningful change we’re driving. We know that wealth inequality by race and gender is a persistent barrier to economic justice. As the Brookings Institution noted in their 2020 report, "Today, the net worth of a typical white family is nearly ten times greater than that of a Black family." The disparity is systemic, and our work to build wealth in underrepresented communities is a tangible way to begin closing that gap.
Through our efforts, wealth generation translates into balance sheet growth for individuals and families, investment gains for institutions, and valuation increases for small businesses—areas historically affected by wealth inequality. By focusing on this impact-driven metric, we are steadily moving closer to a future where wealth and financial security are accessible to all, regardless of race or gender.
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Year 5 Successes
This year marked significant growth across all areas of our firm, with a deepened focus on aligning our services to meet the needs of institutions, small businesses, and individuals. Each of these areas is critical in our mission to address systemic wealth disparities and deliver high-quality financial advice.
We expanded our work with institutional investors, helping them align their investment portfolios with mission-driven goals. This is an essential part of our work, as charitable institutions increasingly recognize the need for their investments to reflect the same values as their grant-making and programming efforts. These organizations are driving meaningful impact by integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles into their portfolios. This aligns with a broader trend in responsible investing, with 86% of asset owners now implementing their values into their investment processes. Our work ensures that these institutions not only meet their financial objectives but also fulfill their broader purpose of creating social and environmental change.
On the individual and family front, we made substantial improvements to our investment portfolios and resolved operational inefficiencies, such as cash drag and rebalancing speed. This was achieved through strategic partnerships with Altruist and Schwab/iRebal, which have allowed us to streamline processes and enhance the overall client experience. These improvements ensure that our clients’ portfolios are optimized for performance and aligned with their long-term financial goals.
We also placed a strong emphasis on enhancing our financial modeling for minority-owned small businesses. This is crucial work, given that only 8% of small businesses are minority-owned, yet they account for just 2% of total small business revenue. By providing these businesses with accurate financial modeling and strategic advice, we empower them to grow, thrive, and close this revenue gap. Our goal is to help these businesses not only survive but succeed in a competitive marketplace, contributing to broader economic equity.
Finally, our team grew in size and capability by integrating Alchemist Wealth Management and advisor Andrew Tudor. These additions have expanded our expertise, particularly in the realm of institutional advisory services. With new skill sets and perspectives, we are better equipped to serve our growing client base and address complex financial challenges, ensuring we continue delivering world-class advisory services.
Each of these areas—whether working with institutions, empowering small businesses, or improving services for individuals—strengthens our ability to drive lasting, meaningful impact for our clients and aligns with our broader vision of financial inclusion and equity.
Looking Forward: Building on Year 5
We remain focused on delivering value and driving wealth creation as we move forward. The demand for personal financial planning and advisory services is growing, especially in changing economic conditions. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Employment of personal financial advisors is projected to grow 15 percent from 2021 to 2031, much faster than the average for all occupations".
Our commitment to addressing wealth inequality through high-quality, values-aligned advice for foundations, endowments, and non-profits is more relevant than ever. As the National Center for Family Philanthropy notes, "Impact investing allows foundations to leverage a greater portion of their assets to achieve their philanthropic goals."
To our clients, teammates, partners, and stakeholders - thank you for your trust. Year 5 reminds us of the real, lasting impact of our work. We remain grounded in our values and focused on our mission of eliminating wealth inequality, one client at a time.
Here's to the journey ahead.
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