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photo by steed media service
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Director of Client Services, Atlanta Life Investment Advisors
One hundred years ago, freed slave Alonzo Franklin Herndon founded what
is today known as Atlanta Life, one of the top black-owned insurance
and investment firms in the country. For the past five years, Atlanta
Life has offered investment education and support through their
investment advisors, who are led by Marc Sydnor.
A University
of Delaware graduate and former captain of his college football team,
Sydnor first made a name for himself working as a senior economist and
equity portfolio manager at MDL Capital Management, where he was the
brainpower behind creating the MDL Economic Matrix, an economic
forecast product. At Atlanta Life, Sydnor is the go-between for
investment managers and their clients. Though he takes pride in
offering his clientele thorough insight into their future investments,
Sydnor admits the going can always get tough when you’re dealing with
money.
“That’s the toughest part about this business — juggling the extreme
levels of success, where on good days you’re up a couple hundred
million, or tough days when you’re down a couple of hundred million,”
he explains.
Sydnor says his company proves African American financial firms compete
on the level with corporate juggernauts Merrill Lynch and Oppenheimer.
He says there will be more and more success stories when young African
Americans learn the power of financial literacy. “I’d say it’s one of
the most exciting industries in the world to be a part of,” he reveals.
“With the invention of the Internet and how we’ve become so global,
[conducting] financial transactions allows you to communicate in any
language.” – gavin philip godfrey
