Q&A with Emlen Miles-Mattingly of Onyx Advisor Network

In May, NAPFA announced a new partnership with the Onyx Advisor Network, a support platform for minority-led firms. The NAPFA Advisor asked Onyx co-founder Emlen Miles-Mattingly, a NAPFA member, to tell us about Onyx.

What is Onyx? Can you give us an overview and tell us how it got started?  

The Onyx Advisor Network focuses on helping historically underrepresented advisors start, scale, and sustain their practices by providing them with a community of like-minded advisors and access to compliance solutions, custodians, coaching development resources, and several other technology resources.

I joined forces with my co-founder, Dasarte Yarnway, to level the playing field for Black, Latinx, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized groups in wealth management and to change the complexion of wealth. Dasarte and I are experienced financial advisors who intimately understand the specific struggles faced by minority advisors. Our vision is to solve the limited access minority advisors starting out in this business have to the important practice management and technology resources proven to foster growth and success. 

What’s the value proposition of Onyx for participating firms?  

Onyx offers access to a bundled technology stack, including heavily discounted services from MessageWatcher, Envestnet|MoneyGuide, RightCapital, Altruist, Synergy RIA Compliance Solutions, and Wealthbox, as well as investment solutions from Vanguard and Alpha Architect. Additionally, Onyx works with Carson Coaching, Encorestate, Holistiplan, NAPFA, Shaping Wealth, and Snappy Kraken. 

Partnering with Onyx allows these firms to extend their services to a diverse range of clients and reach a larger volume of consumers. According to CFP Board’s most recent study, as of the end of 2021 only 4.5% of CFP^® professionals in the U.S. are Black and/or Hispanic. Working with Onyx gives companies like Altruist and NAPFA a chance to help advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the financial planning profession and assist qualified advisors in building a successful practice. 

How does Onyx differ from other platforms?  

The Onyx Advisor Network is unique because it has been intentionally crafted with expert advice from underrepresented advisors across the field of financial planning. After its soft launch in December 2021, Dasarte and I worked with a beta group of diverse advisors to stress test and gain expert feedback on the platform’s offerings before making the network widely available in May. In addition to gaining access to a bundled tech stack, members are provided with a community of like-minded advisors of all identities with whom they can collaborate and grow while learning from industry leaders. 

Onyx is the tangible manifestation of how I, Dasarte, and our partners will make financial services a viable career for people of every skin color, gender, sexual orientation, and background. 

What’s the partnership between Onyx and NAPFA?  

Onyx allows affiliated NAPFA advisors greater access to the tools and resources that broaden their professional networks and support their business success. This partnership helps NAPFA further its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) mission in creating and innovating a culture of DEI within the financial planning profession. Onyx members who meet NAPFA’s guidelines for members are eligible for discounted NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor and NAPFA associate memberships.

What does Onyx hope to achieve in its first few years, and how can the partnership with NAPFA help to advance its goals?  

Dasarte and I launched Onyx when the wealth gap in America is still growing—and is the most pronounced for minorities. Today, 80% of leadership positions in the wealth management industry are held by men, and 70% of those men are white. The Onyx mission is simple: to change the face of wealth by closing the gap. The first step is to offer advisors across the country the support, networks, and resources they need to establish a practice where they can provide a financial compass for all and any clients, especially those who need these services the most.

Onyx expects to attract more than 50 advisors by the end of 2022. The partnership with NAPFA will provide Onyx access to over 4,400 professionals across the country to help achieve this objective. As the network grows, the long-term goal is to change the complexion of wealth and ensure the financial services industry looks more like the country in which it operates. 

Visit the Onyx Advisor Network to learn more.