The Onyx Advisor Network is planning to officially open on May 9, with advisors able to join for a $549 monthly subscription that gets them access to numerous tech options and the ability to invest client assets in model portfolios supported by Vanguard and Alpha Architect.
Co-founders Dasarte Yarnway and Emlen Miles-Mattingly originally connected on social media after Yarnway started Berknell Financial Group and Miles-Mattingly founded Gen Next Wealth, and the two continued to counsel each other as they built their firms.
Eventually, the duo decided to start Onyx to serve advisors of color, women, LGBTQ+ and other minorities who felt marginalized by an industry with continuously low rates of diversity in its ranks.
“By breaking down the barriers to entry and providing Onyx advisors with access to some of the best resources our industry has to offer—at an affordable cost—we are addressing the diversity challenge in our industry and forcing systemic change in underserved communities,” Yarnway said in a statement.
The network also released information about the specific benefits for members. According to Onyx, advisors will have the option of being billed monthly or per year, and will get access to a bundled tech stack that includes Altruist, MessageWatcher, Envestnet | MoneyGuide, RightCapital, Synergy RIA Compliance Solutions and Wealthbox.
In addition to the aforementioned “Onyx Model Portfolios,” members will get discounted rates with Onyx’s partners, including Carson Coaching, Encorestate, Holistiplan, National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, Shaping Wealth and Snappy Kraken, with more yet to be announced.
In a prior interview with WealthManagement.com, Miles-Mattingly said he was heavily focused on helping underrepresented advisors with custodial access, remembering how he and Yarnway had both had difficulty partnering with a custodian when starting their firms. Asset minimums in the $10 million range can shut the door for new advisors without preestablished networks of wealthy contacts, and Miles-Mattingly wanted Onyx’s coaching program to emphasize the importance of reaching that $10 million to start.
After Onyx’s soft launch this past winter, Yarnway and Miles-Mattingly worked with a beta group of advisors throughout Q1, including Blue Ocean Wealth CEO Marguerita Chang; Mind Over Money CEO Tremaine Wills; and Leighann Miko, CEO of Equalis Financial, who said she felt “deeply connected” to the new network’s mission.
“After taking part in Onyx’s beta group, I couldn’t be more hopeful about the change that it’s going to force in the industry,” she said.
Miles-Mattingly previously said he and Yarnway hoped for as many as 100 advisors on the platform by the end of the first year, potentially expanding to 500 within the first three years. The network also revealed that subscribers would get a discounted rate for its first in-person community gathering to be held at the Future Proof Festival in Huntington Beach, Calif., this fall.
“Creating Onyx is the tangible manifestation of how Dasarte, our partners and I will lead our industry by making financial services a viable career for people of every skin color, gender, sexual orientation and background,” he said.