( ENSPIRE Business ) New WealthMore App Building Wealth for New Communities
ENSPIRE Contributor: Petra Wolf
WealthMore represents a new premium wealth advisor-led, tech-enabled investing and planning service and community without barriers to entry. This firm plans to level the financial playing field by making investing and building generational wealth accessible. The new financial app will launch in August 2023 and will be critical for building wealth. WealthMore’s founder, Mical Jeanlys-White wants to reach a far wider community than previous financial apps and private banking services.
WealthMore requires an initial investment of $1000 to start individuals on a journey to financial security and freedom. WealthMore offers three plans: Invest+, Premium Advice, and Premium Advice+ – to help individuals financially. The financial app has communities led by wealth advisors (CFPs or CFP equivalent) to give individuals real-time advice about investing, retirement, college planning, home buying, insurance, estate planning, and taxes. The service aims to deliver personalized financial advice leveraging our proprietary AI and patent-pending scoring models.
ENSPIRE met with Mical Jeanlys-White to discuss how the app was created and her plans for the project.
What first led you from JP Morgan to founding a start-up? A dire need for financial advice and financial literacy to help more Americans achieve financial success. Unfortunately, the market is not interested in making expert financial advice accessible to those who are not already wealthy. I left JP Morgan and founded WealthMore to address this very unmet need and help more Americans grow and retain wealth, especially generational wealth.
I’m also at my best when I’m leading innovation and running a business. It’s what I enjoy the most and what equally engages my left and right brain. But innovation in large organizations is very slow and solving for more inclusive financial products is not always a top priority. I wanted to do both. Founding WealthMore became the obvious solution.
But founding WealthMore is also deeply personal. I’m a first-generation American. We never talked about the stock market. My grandmother was also a super saver who saved a lot of money that languished in low-interest-bearing savings and CD accounts. As a black, female, Haitian immigrant, and non-English speaking widower, she never made any banker’s lead list. Her money never got the attention it deserved which would have allowed her a better financial future and the opportunity to transfer generation wealth.
We’ve done the math. She would have been a multi-millionaire. She was overlooked and left out. The same continues to happen today.
What were the initial challenges to creating WealthMore?
I knew the problem I wanted to solve was to make it easier for people to build and retain meaningful wealth. The big challenge was to figure out the “how”. The idea for WealthMore ultimately came to me while I was riding my Peloton. You’ll find that the WealthMore experience draws a good amount of inspiration from the fitness brand.
WealthMore is an investing and financial planning service and community where our expert financial advisors help you do better. Our users get expert advice from people they can trust and who see them. They also get to join communities of investors that they can connect and identify with. We offer communities like #womenwhowealth #firstgen #newinvestor #homebuyers. And all our communities are led by our expert financial advisors so the insights are always from trained professionals — not robots or avatars. We also included activities and events to help our users and communities meet their goals. When our users meet those goals, we join in to celebrate and elevate their success.
How has it been bringing underrepresented people to the platform?
We’ve been intentional in reaching out to our overlooked communities and ensuring that our wealth advisors represent the rich and diverse communities we serve. The reaction has been very positive. The desire for great financial advice has always been there. The issue has always been one of access.
Our company and user experience allow for underrepresented people to be seen and acknowledged. People connect with my personal story and those of our wealth advisors and team. Our company is led by a diverse team and many of us come from humble beginnings. We share that openly because representation matters.
What are the plans for building the community aspect of WealthMore?
We’ve built the community experiences twofold: based on financial goals and how users may identify. And in all instances, the communities are led by our expert wealth advisors. Our communities include #homeownership #collegeplanning, #newinvestors, #womenwhowealth #firstgenwealth.
As we grow, we’re also planning on taking our communities live and hosting events in different cities. We want our users to experience meeting their expert advisors and connecting with each other, and want them to share their success stories to motivate and inspire each other. We believe in the strength in numbers and community.
Are there any plans to expand outside Philadelphia?
While WealthMore is Philadelphia based, it’s available to all US residents, 18 years and older. Wealth is for us all and we want to reach as many people as possible.
Too many of us have been left out. The top 10% of US Households hold over $400,000 in stocks while those with middle incomes hold ~$15,000. Only 34% of Blacks own stocks and 24% of Latinos. Women live longer than men but invest less and are more likely to live in poverty in retirement. And women of color tend to invest even less.
We can help so many people that have been overlooked and left out do better.
What do you feel the impact of this platform will be in a few years?
The mission is to change the way the world sees investors and wealth to include us all. Our impact in a few years is to become the preferred destination for all seeking to grow wealth with people who they can trust and with the support of the communities they cherish. It’s very simple, wealth is for us all.
WealthMore also partnered with Apex Clearing Corporation (a subsidiary of Apex Fintech Solutions) to provide brokerage services, including custody and clearing, to WealthMore customers. The app provides individuals with diversified investment portfolios, high-yield savings accounts, and fixed-income bond portfolios. WealthMore intends to be the banking solution for investors who don’t have $500,000, $1 million, or $10 million to get on the road to financial freedom. The goal centers around wealth creation and financial stability for many who have never been included or dreamed that was an option.
To learn more about the brand-new financial app, one can go here.
Related Links: LISC NY Battles Racial Wealth Gap Responding to Economic Uncertainty, Vincent Brown of Naughty By Nature, Advancing Generational Wealth
