This week on The Urban Business Roundtable, UBR contributor Renita D. Young speaks with Eugene Profit, the founder and CEO of Profit Investments, an investment management firm based in Silver Spring, Maryland. Profit Investments, ranked No. 14 on the 2012 BE 100s Asset Managers list with $1.9 billion in assets under management, is one of the largest African-American owned money management firms in the country.
A former professional football player, Profit came to a turning point in his life when a career-ending injury forced him to retire from the National Football League, where he had played the cornerback position for teams including the New England Patriots and the Washington Redskins. Transitioning from the gridiron to Wall Street, Profit began a career in the financial services industry working as a financial consultant for Legg Mason.
In 1996, he founded his own company, Profit Investment Management, a firm which invests in large- and small- cap equities for institutional accounts and mutual fund investors. With diligence and focus, Profit led his enterprise from $300,ooo in assets under management to nearly $2 billion in assets today. Along the way, he has been featured as a prominent player in the financial industry by media outlets ranging from CNBC and CNN to the pages of BusinessWeek, Smart Money and Black Enterprise. Profit joins the roundtable to share his journey from professional athlete to founder of one of America’s most successful black-owned businesses.
Also, UBR Contributor Samantha Pass speaks with Hollywood executive and serial entrepreneur Arthur Wylie, author of Only The Crazy and Fearless Win Big!: The Surprising Secrets Success in Business and In Life (BenBella Books). An executive at Global Entertainment Holding’s Film Fund, Wylie also oversees his own wealth management group, specializing in helping companies through business planning.
In my “Alfred’s Notepad” this week, a remind UBR listeners about a great opportunity to jump-start your wealth-building agenda: the Black Enterprise Financial Fitness Contest. Each month, the editors of Black Enterprise select a contest winner from among the entries it solicits via the magazine, BlackEnterprise.com, and its presence on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. If selected, you get $2,000 to help you with your financial goals, a complimentary consultation with a financial advisor and a profile in Black Enterprise magazine. The Financial Fitness Contest, now in its 13th year, is a major feature of the Black Enterprise Wealth for Life Initiative, which promotes 10 principles of wealth building in each issue of the magazine. More than a quarter-million dollars has been awarded to help Black Enterprise readers to achieve their financial goals since the contest’s inception. To enter, just go to BlackEnterprise.com/financial-fitness-contest. And remember to pass the word to friends, family and others in your network
And finally, every week on UBR, you’ll get motivation and inspiration from author and entrepreneurial icon Farrah Gray, a weekly wrap-up of business news from USA Today business correspondent Charisse Jones, our Patient Investor Report from Khoa X. Ho of Ariel Investments and key economic intelligence for small business owners from our UBR economists Derrick Collins and Rasheed Carter.
If you have a question you want answered or a topic you want addressed on The Urban Business Roundtable, connect with me at BE Insider, the social media network for people who are serious about Black Enterprise. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook.
Alfred Edmond Jr. is the senior VP/editor-at-large of Black Enterprise and the host of the Urban Business Roundtable, a weekly radio show, sponsored by Ariel Investments, airing CST Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. on WVON-AM 1690, the Talk of Chicago. You can also listen live online at WVON.com. Check back each week for UBR Spotlight, which features additional resources, advice and information from and about the topics, entrepreneurs and experts featured on the show.