“People don’t know there are minority-owned broker-dealers who can distribute bonds,” said Mercedes Elias, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and co-CEO of New York City-based AmeriVet Securities, which serves institutional clients.
AmeriVet is one of very few firms designated as both a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business and a Minority Business Enterprise, she said. About 60% of its employees are veterans.
The firm supports the veteran community in many ways, including hosting numerous educational events with nonprofits to grow public awareness of veterans’ issues, working with veteran-owned small businesses to put on those events, and providing financial support for nonprofits helping veterans transition out of the military.
AmeriVet also provides transitioning help by offering one-to-one internships three times a year to help military veterans get their first experience working in financial services and corporate America.
The recent social unrest in the U.S. has contributed to the firm’s growth, Elias said.
“As people were stuck at home during Covid, watching the protests, individuals and companies started asking themselves, ‘What can we do?’” she said. “While companies have often worked with us as a way to check off the DEI box, now they recognize the importance of working with diverse-owned businesses and they’re starting to utilize us in a more meaningful way.”
Contact Sidney Covington, veteran engagement associate, at scovington@amerivetsecurities.com to learn more about its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.