Black Americans Deeply Committed to Helping their Families and Communities Financially, Leaving a Legacy, U.S. Bank Survey finds
November 09 2021 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Importance of helping local community, leaving
a lasting legacy shine through in survey responses from financially
comfortable Black consumers
Findings will drive additional work to better
serve Black community, help close racial wealth gap
In an effort to better serve Black consumers, U.S. Bank today
released the results of its Building Black Wealth Insights
research, which highlighted the financial needs, goals and
challenges of Black Americans with at least $25,000 in investable
assets.**
Key insights from the survey include:
- 61 percent of Black respondents feel better about their current
financial situation than they did before the pandemic, compared to
49 percent for Hispanic, Asian and Caucasian respondents.
- 77 percent of Black respondents think the racial wealth gap
will either increase or, best-case scenario, remain the same by
2030.
- 79 percent of Black respondents feel there are still
institutional roadblocks impeding their ability to accumulate
wealth; this number was even higher for Black female single head of
household respondents (85%).
- 69 percent of Black consumers, far more than other racial
groups surveyed, feel a deep sense of responsibility to help their
communities financially; they also are more committed to leaving a
financial legacy for the next generation.
“We understand that, as advisors who work every day to help
clients achieve better financial outcomes, our industry has an
important role to play and much more work to do to reduce the
racial wealth gap,” said Gunjan Kedia, vice chair of Wealth
Management and Investment Services at U.S. Bank. “This research
highlights many steps we can take as an industry to better serve
the Black community.”
The findings from the U.S. Bank Building Black Wealth Insights
research will be used by the bank as it works to apply its core
competencies as a financial institution to help close the racial
wealth gap. As part of its Access Commitment, which followed on a
$116 million initial commitment to address social and economic
inequities, the bank is dedicated to listening and learning so it
can best help individuals and communities of color advance
economically, support businesses owned by people of color, and
enhance career opportunities for employees and prospective
employees of color. Many of the bank’s initiatives to address
social and economic inequities are well underway, including efforts
to increase the number of Black financial advisors over the next
two years, a total investment of $208 million in Black-owned and
-led businesses since June 2020, and $25 million in loans and
grants to small business run by women of color.
For the research, U.S. Bank surveyed 4,024 people of Black,
Hispanic, Asian and Caucasian heritage. Additionally, senior bank
leaders held in-depth focus groups with Black consumers. This
research specifically focused on those with $25,000 and up in
investible assets** – those more likely to engage with a financial
advisor or other investing mechanism to build wealth – to better
understand how the financial industry can better meet the needs of
Black Americans and what changes could deliver the most value.
“This work is intensely personal to me, and I have my own
thoughts based on my life experiences, but it was important to us
that we broaden the conversation by listening to consumers to learn
about their perspectives, and then further test those learnings in
our quantitative research,” said Scott Ford, president of the
wealth management business that focuses on emerging affluent and
affluent consumers. “The bank is continually holding a wide range
of additional conversations with consumers across all wealth levels
as part of our holistic approach to help address the racial wealth
gap.”
Additional highlights from the research:
Black respondents are far more likely than non-Black
respondents to feel a sense of duty to lift their communities
financially Black respondents are deeply committed to advancing
the Black community through the “each one, teach one” concept – the
idea of passing knowledge or learnings on to someone else.
- 66% of all Black respondents feel their community is at a
disadvantage compared to Hispanics (37%), Asians (17%) and
Caucasians (7%) who feel this way about their respective
communities in terms of wealth accumulation.
- Nearly 7 in 10 (69%) feel a sense of responsibility to their
community (compared to 58% of Hispanic respondents, 35% of Asian
respondents and 28% of Caucasian respondents).
- 61% of Black respondents said educating their family or their
community on financial matters is important to them, compared to
46% of non-Black respondents.
Black Americans want to see themselves reflected in the
financial teams helping them
- Nearly twice as many Black respondents as Hispanic respondents
say they have been treated differently by the financial services
industry due to their race (23% vs. 13% respectively) – and nearly
four times as many compared to white respondents (6%).
- When asked for changes they’d like to see in the financial
services industry, Black consumers were twice as likely as their
non-Black counterparts to want financial planners who look more
like them – gender, age, race, sexual orientation (30% vs. 14%
respectively).
- Black Millennial and Gen X respondents find it more important
than Boomers for their financial advisor to be the same
race/ethnicity: 65% of Millennials and 61% of Gen Xers said they
want their financial advisor to be similar to them.
Black women are less likely to work with a financial advisor
and feel the Black community is at more of a disadvantage for
wealth accumulation than Black males
- 57% of Black women surveyed work with an advisor vs. 66% of
Black men.
- However, nearly 3 out of 4 (72%) Black female single head of
household respondents work with a financial advisor.
- Black women (24%) feel more anxiety than Black men (16%) when
thinking about financial planning.
- Black women (70%) are more likely than Black men (59%) to feel
the Black community is at a disadvantage vs. the general population
in terms of wealth accumulation.
Black consumers are committed to building wealth for the next
generation
- Twice as many Black respondents describe financial success as
leaving a legacy compared to their white counterparts (20% vs.
10%). They are also more likely than white respondents to define
success as being able to help the next generation (26% vs.
16%).
- Black consumers surveyed said they value real estate as part of
their wealth portfolio at a high rate; 47% of Black consumers
surveyed said they view real estate as a tangible asset to pass
along to family, more so than their white counterparts in the
survey (39%).
- 16% of Black Americans surveyed said they had achieved a goal
of setting aside money to start a business (compared to just 8% of
Asian respondents and 12% of white respondents).
Additional resources:
- Building Black Wealth 2021 Insights study
- Q&A on the survey results with Gunjan Kedia, Vice Chair,
Wealth Management and Investment Services, and Greg Cunningham,
Chief Diversity Officer, U.S. Bank.
*About the survey U.S. Bank’s Building Black Wealth
Insights research was conducted online between Jan. 6 and Jan. 26,
2021 by C+R Research on behalf of U.S. Bank of 4,024 Asian, Black,
Caucasian and Hispanic consumers in the U.S. All of the respondents
were sole, primary or joint financial decision-makers in their
households. More than half of the respondents (2,062) had
investable assets** greater than $100,000; 1,008 respondents had
investable assets of $25,000 to $100,000 and 954 participants were
21-40 years old, had a college degree, were working full time and
had household incomes ranging from $55k-$90k depending on age.
**Investable Assets – personal financial investments (taxable,
IRAs and Keoghs) including deposits, investments and annuities.
Excludes 401(k), 403(b), profit share, IRA-SEP, stock
purchase/ESOP, money purchase, life insurance or home value.
About U.S. Bank U.S. Bancorp, with nearly 70,000
employees and $567 billion in assets as of Sept. 30, 2021, is the
parent company of U.S. Bank National Association. The
Minneapolis-based company serves millions of customers locally,
nationally and globally through a diversified mix of businesses:
Consumer and Business Banking; Payment Services; Corporate &
Commercial Banking; and Wealth Management and Investment Services.
The company has been recognized for its approach to digital
innovation, social responsibility, and customer service, including
being named one of the 2021 World’s Most Ethical Companies and
Fortune’s most admired superregional bank. Learn more at
usbank.com/about.
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Kristin Kelly, U.S. Bank Public Affairs & Communications
kristin.kelly@usbank.com | 303.585.4129
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