{"id":3207,"date":"2025-10-16T03:39:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T03:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/3207\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T03:39:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T03:39:07","slug":"business-for-good-zenith-wealth-partners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/3207\/","title":{"rendered":"Business for Good: Zenith Wealth Partners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2019, when Jason Ray was in the middle of a successful career in finance, he came to realize just how rare he was. As a Black financial advisor, Ray made up only five percent of the sector<\/a>. Not only that, most of his clients were older White retirees or large institutions \u2026 also usually run by White people.<\/p>\n

Ray grew up in Detroit, before moving out East to study and play football at Princeton. After college, he landed a job at Radnor-based Lincoln Financial Group and decided to move to Philly because the city felt like it was bustling with young professionals. (This was 2014 when a Millennial boom helped rejuvenate Philly.<\/a>) Surely, Ray thought, in a city as diverse as Philly, wealth management would be more diverse as well? He loved seeing the impact his work could have on his clients, but he wanted to help younger people and people of color as well.<\/p>\n

He moved from Lincoln Financial Group to Future Standard (formerly FS Investments) and later Carnegie Wealth Management. But despite his success, he realized his work did little to address a glaring problem in American society: The racial wealth gap.<\/p>\n

Here in Philly, White families have a median net worth of $160,200,<\/a> compared to $9,000 for Black families, according to a 2024 Federal Reserve of Philadelphia report. Meanwhile, 47 percent of White people who earn between $50,000 and $150,000 work with a financial advisor, compared to just 36 percent of Black people at that same income level.<\/p>\n

Those who aren\u2019t already affluent often struggle to access the financial advisory services needed to grow their wealth. Most advisors require people to have between $20,000 and $500,000 in cash<\/a> to open an account. \u201cNobody was serving young people or people of color or women with any type of relatability or accessibility,\u201d Ray says.<\/p>\n

He wanted to see financial advisors use their talents to help close these gaps. So, that same year, he founded Zenith Wealth Partners<\/a> with a lofty goal: generating $1 billion in wealth for people who have historically been excluded from these kinds of services.<\/p>\n

Six years later, Zenith is on its way. Ray and his business partner, Chelsea Ransom-Cooper, who joined in 2020, grew the firm to $140 million in assets under management, while generating almost $100 million in wealth for their clients, 70 percent of whom are people of color. They\u2019re also helping keep these investment dollars local, with initiatives that invest in Philly businesses and that help nonprofits invest their endowments in line with their values.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen strong businesses in Philadelphia really struggle to raise money, not because they aren\u2019t viable, but because they lack connections, effective investor materials and data rooms, and proper preparation.\u201d \u2014 Jason Ray, Zenith founder<\/p>\n

Zenith\u2019s approach <\/p>\n

For the most part, Zenith functions like a typical financial advisory firm. People come in, and Zenith helps them invest and meet savings goals \u2014 paying down debt, saving for college, buying a home or retiring.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s different is how Zenith measures success. While most firms in the industry track their success by how much client money they manage, Zenith tracks how much its investments have generated for clients.<\/p>\n

This difference may not seem like much \u2014 assets under management encompass things like returns, after all \u2014 but it\u2019s a shift in thinking that helps the firm stay focused on its mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we generate wealth for these clients, we are directly addressing racial and gender-based wealth inequality that exists in society,\u201d Ray says.<\/p>\n

As part of this effort, Zenith intentionally keeps their services affordable for individuals. Wealth planning services at Zenith range from $4,200-$9,600 per year, depending on the complexity of someone\u2019s portfolio. Usually, the median yearly fee for financial advisory services is about $4,500,<\/a> though many advisors bill hourly or use a fee system, based on the amount in assets a client is investing. For people who make less than $80,000 per year, Zenith offers a one-time financial consultation to discuss savings goals and how to start building wealth for $550.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jason Ray Investing locally <\/p>\n

Zenith is one of a handful of firms that has been working with nonprofits and foundations in Philadelphia to shift investment portfolios to align with their missions<\/a>. A nonprofit that supports women, for example, might choose to invest its endowment in women-owned businesses. Another might want to see their investments grow the local economy, or support companies that are building low-income housing. The trouble is often identifying the local businesses that do good and will provide a solid return on investments.<\/p>\n

Zenith has worked with local and minority-owned companies<\/a> to map out cash flows and produce financial projections \u2014 information investors often want before any dollars change hands. Then it helps them find investors. Through partnerships like this, Zenith aims to move $10 million from institutional investors to local business leaders over the next 18-24 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen strong businesses in Philadelphia really struggle to raise money, not because they aren\u2019t viable, but because they lack connections, effective investor materials and data rooms, and proper preparation,\u201d Ray says. \u201cWe\u2019ve built a workflow to really address that and assist the flow of capital to go to local underrepresented leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, about nine organizations, including Merchants Fund, Independence Public Media Foundation and Women\u2019s Way, have committed to investing at least a portion of their endowments locally or in ways that align with their missions. Together, they have more than $400 million in assets under management with Zenith and other financial advisors.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving an outsourced and objective advisor come in to help a board and to help a management team really think about how to align their assets with their values and their mission, and make sure their assets are really pushing forward the mission of the organization, is a tough job,\u201d Ray says. \u201cWe specialize in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zenith typically comes to these partnerships in two ways: An organization approaches them to invest a portion \u2014 say 10 percent \u2014 of their endowment locally, or they respond to a request for proposals from an organization seeking investment management.<\/p>\n

West Philly\u2019s The Enterprise Center,<\/a> which offers consulting and financial support for small businesses , is one nonprofit that has used Zenith for its investment management services. Charles Hopkins, board treasurer for The Enterprise Center, says the organization was looking for an investment management partner during the pandemic to help them increase long-term returns, so they could potentially undertake long-term capital projects.<\/p>\n

Those who aren\u2019t already affluent often struggle to access the financial advisory services needed to grow their wealth.<\/p>\n

They looked at about five investment managers and chose Zenith because its mission aligned with their own goals: increasing racial and economic equity through supporting small businesses. He\u2019s also been impressed with the performance of their investments.<\/p>\n

\u201cJason and his team have built a practice around serving underserved communities, and their ultimate goal is to close the wealth gap,\u201d Hopkins says. \u201cOne opportunity was their commitment to Philadelphia and assisting other organizations like ours in thinking through how to align their investments with the mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

From $1 billion to $100 billion <\/p>\n

Ray wants to grow Zenith\u2019s team of advisors and to bring in new clients as the firm continues to grow. They have ten advisors right now, all people of color or women. Many of the members of their team come to Zenith because they get to work directly with clients, which isn\u2019t always possible at larger firms where financial advisors may be part of a larger team managing specific accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a really special part of my own founder journey, and going from it just being me to working with some incredible people,\u201d he says. \u201cI feel like I learn more, and get smarter as we onboard new advisors.\u201d<\/p>\n

The firm tends to get clients by word-of-mouth, and Ray loves hearing feedback from people who have used their services. Clients have told him they appreciate Zenith\u2019s holistic approach to investing, including how to make their investments align with their values. Since their inception, they\u2019ve held 3,800 client meetings.<\/p>\n

Ray is also considering how to expand Zenith\u2019s mission, and the local investing lens, to advisory firms around the U.S. They\u2019re talking with firms in Detroit, Atlanta and Charlotte about how they can partner, so that they can use Zenith\u2019s playbook to develop their own place-based investment strategies. He suggests that firms should start out by working with local entrepreneurial and nonprofit leaders to understand their capital needs and investment goals. Then they can connect with local companies who might be looking for investment dollars.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s taken us six years to get to $100 million [in wealth created], but it\u2019s not going to take us another six to get to that billion,\u201d Ray says. \u201cMaybe we\u2019ll set the next goal at $100 billion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AnEvery Voice, Every Vote funds Philadelphia media and community organizations to expand access to civic news and information. The coalition is led by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Lead support for Every Voice, Every Vote in 2024 and 2025 is provided by the William Penn Foundation with additional funding from The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, Comcast NBC Universal, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Henry L. Kimelman Family Foundation, Judy and Peter Leone, Arctos Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, 25th Century Foundation, and Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation.<\/p>\n

\"\" MORE BUSINESS FOR GOOD<\/p>\n

Jason Ray and Chelsea Ransom-Cooper <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2019, when Jason Ray was in the middle of a successful career in finance, he came to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2936,2937,69,71,70,2938,2939],"class_list":{"0":"post-3207","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-business-for-good","9":"tag-every-voice-every-vote","10":"tag-philadelphia","11":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","12":"tag-philadelphia-news","13":"tag-poverty","14":"tag-racism"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}