[Music] Well you know it seems these days that There really is an app for everything There really is i can't think of Anything there isn't an app for actually This one is a really great one because Now you can add one for closing the Racial wealth cap that is a good one at Least that is the goal of a new company With a service rolling out soon it is Called stockwell capital and it aims to Boost black investors involvement in the Stock market to build generational Wealth the app uses algorithms that buy Sell and rebalance stocks for users so For more on this we want to bring in Trevor rozier byrd he is the founder and Ceo of stackwell capital and a veteran Of the asset management industry trevor Welcome it's great to have you with us So before we get into the technology Because we really want to understand how That works tell us why you thought this App needed to be created Yeah well thank you first of all thank You guys for having me on today uh very Much appreciate it um look the story of The racial wealth gap is one that is Getting worse with each passing Generation so when you look at the data Uh the story the numbers tell us that The racial wealth gap is worse today Than it was before the passage of the Civil rights act
It was about 7x at that time today when You look at the total population it's About 8x now when you drill into that a Bit further The problem actually skyrockets within The millennial and gen z population Where it grows as high as 17x And for us at stackwell we believe that The racial wealth gap is the social Justice issue of our time The wealth gap directly impacts many Other material Social issues in the black community so You think about things like access to Affordable housing health care quality Education the list goes on All of those things are directly Impacted by a person's access to capital Or lack thereof and i felt that you know Starting an application that could Leverage the power of the financial Markets to help more people in the black Community to grow and amass their wealth Would give them greater agency and Control to Impact and direct outcomes that matter Pervasively across their lives and in Particular with respect to the Millennial engine's population and on That note when does your app launch how Does it work what should investors know Before trying this out Absolutely so the app will be available In early spring
So right now interested users can go to Our website which is Stackwellcapital.com they can sign up For our waitlist and they will get The opportunity for early access to our Application In terms of the app itself so we are Delivering a robo investment application To start and what that basically means Is we're making available two people Model investment portfolios that are Based off of an individual's users Investment objectives risk profile and Investment time horizon We pair those those model investment Portfolios with access to culturally Congruent You know invest in education as well as Our use of behavioral psychology to help People Model and shape the effective behaviors That are required to you know meet their Long-term investing and financial goals It's good that you do that you oh sorry To interrupt because i just want to Point out that the stock market is Obviously volatile and risky and some People you know equate it to gambling Right so Why would you say that this is the best Way to help close the racial wealth gap When people could lose money as easily As they could make money in the stock Market
Yeah you're actually touching on one of The most relevant barriers to entry when It comes to Investing in the black community so There is a strong sense of loss aversion There's perspective that the stock Market is this inherently risky place Now the reality is that there are Sustainable ways for people to go and Actually participate in the market and You know taking a broadly diversified Approach helps reduce the risk Associated with investing And so we know empirically based on just The historical performance of the stock Market generally speaking the market Produces like an eight and a half Percent rate of return every year on Average for the last 30 years and so You know given my professional Background as a lawyer and business Person in an asset management space i Have seen how powerful the market can Actually be to help people grow into Mass wealth and i felt like there was a Really strong application here For folks in the black community And you've talked before trevor about How even in assembling this team you Wanted to deal with the social emotional And cultural barriers impeding Investments in black communities what do You mean by that Sure so for us look i think generally
Speaking there is a lack of proximity to The wealth and investment Process in the black community and so i Think that has resulted in the Development of bias and misperceptions As well as barriers to entry that have Kept many people on the outside looking At so when we go out and we talk to Folks in the market what we often hear Is you know people feel like they don't Know where or how to start when it comes To investing they feel like They don't necessarily have enough money Or that there's some level of Sophistication that is required in order To earn you the right to participate in The markets and those perceptions could Not be further from the truth and so we Have been intentional in the ways in Which we have constructed our platform To Address some of those challenges but Also we have been intensely focused on Wrapping all of that in a sense of Community where people can share access To information where people can uplift One another and focus on the collective Achievement of more people in the black Community as it relates to them building Their wealth so that they'll have a Greater opportunity to you know direct The outcomes that matter and have impact Pervasively across their lives sure Making the inaccessible accessible
Trevor what was your bird thank you very Much for joining us we appreciate it Absolutely thank you for having me
