April 28, 2022
The Onyx Advisor Network to Officially Open to the Wealth Management Community
The Onyx Advisor Network (Onyx), a comprehensive entrepreneurial support platform for underrepresented financial advisors, today announces it will officially launch May 9, 2022. Financial advisors of color, women, members of the LGBTQ+ community and anyone who feels marginalized by the financial services industry, is invited to join for a $549 monthly subscription.
Co-founded by financial advisors Dasarte Yarnway and Emlen Miles-Mattingly, Onyx was created to address our country’s wealth gap and provide historically underrepresented advisors with technology tools, custodial access, investment management resources, an inclusive community and coaching support — all key elements for advisors to start, scale and sustain their practices.
“In developing Onyx, Emlen and I are driven to empower underrepresented advisors with the tools, technology and resources needed to build sustainable careers in our profession,” said Yarnway, who has his own financial advisory firm, Berknell Financial Group.
“By breaking down the barriers to entry and providing Onyx advisors with access to some of the best resources our industry has to offer — at an affordable cost — we are addressing the diversity challenge in our industry and forcing systemic change in underserved communities.”
Included in the $549 subscription — with the option to bill monthly or annually — advisors will receive access to a bundled technology stack, including Altruist, MessageWatcher, Envestnet|MoneyGuide, RightCapital, Synergy RIA Compliance Solutions and Wealthbox. Network advisors will have the option to invest client assets in the “Onyx Model Portfolios” powered by the portfolio management expertise of Vanguard, as well as Alpha Architect. Advisors will also have access to a robust community and coaching development resources. In addition to the dramatic cost savings offered by the monthly subscription, network advisors will have access to preferred rates at Onyx’s supplemental partners, including Carson Coaching, Encorestate, Holistiplan, National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, Shaping Wealth and Snappy Kraken, with others to follow.
Having both been denied entry into the financial services industry earlier in their careers, Yarnway and Miles-Mattingly founded Onyx to level the playing field for underrepresented advisors and create awareness of the profession among underserved communities.
“According to the CFP® Board’s most recent study, as of the end of last year only 4.5 percent of CFP® professionals in the U.S. are Black and/or Hispanic,” said Miles-Mattingly, who runs his own financial advisory firm, Gen Next Wealth.
“When Dasarte and I hear these numbers, we feel it is the responsibility of all of us to take meaningful action to welcome minority professionals into this space. Creating Onyx is the tangible manifestation of how Dasarte, our partners and I will lead our industry by making financial services a viable career for people of every skin color, gender, sexual orientation, and background.”
After its soft launch in December 2021, Yarnway and Miles-Mattingly worked with a beta group of diverse advisors, including Meg Bartelt, CFP®, MS, Marguerita Cheng, CFP®, Samuel Deane, MBA, Leighann Miko, CFP®, Chloé Moore, CFP®, Anna N’Jie-Konte, MBA, CFP®, Michael Policar, Chelsea Ransom-Cooper, CFP®, Luis Rosa, CFP®, EA, Shawn Tydlaska, MBA, CFP® and Tremaine Wills, MBA, CFEI, to stress test and gain expert feedback on the platform’s offerings.
“I feel deeply connected to Dasarte and Emlen’s mission with the Onyx Advisor Network: to support and lift up historically excluded communities,” said Miko, who heads her own fee-only planning firm, Equalis Financial.
“After taking part in Onyx’s beta group, I couldn’t be more hopeful about the change that it’s going to force in the industry. I truly believe that any advisor who feels marginalized and made to believe that the financial services industry isn’t for them has a home at Onyx.”
Advisors in the Onyx community will also receive a discounted rate to attend its first ever in-person community gathering at the Future Proof Festival. Taking place on Sept. 11-14, 2022, in Huntington Beach, Calif., Future Proof is designed to usher in a more inclusive future in the wealth management industry. As part of the #RiseTogether campaign, any attendee who registers during Women’s History Month can grant an underrepresented financial advisor or institutional investor a complimentary ticket to the event.
If you’re an advisor interested in joining the Onyx Advisor Network, please visit onyxadvisornetwork.com.
Technology vendors and other service providers in the financial services industry who would like to become Onyx partners, contact us at join@onyxadvisornetwork.com.