More Opportunities Arising for Minorities in CRE Investment, Wealth Management

Casoro Group, a leading commercial real estate investment firm based in Austin, Texas, has launched its new Onyx Impact Fund. The 100 percent, minority-owned firm created the Onyx Impact Fund to help increase the generational wealth of minorities through increased participation in the real estate industry and real estate investing.

The Onyx Impact Fund has a 10-year investment period, with an investment target of $1 billion. It seeks investments in commercial real estate opportunities with minority-owned sponsors, in properties benefiting from the booming knowledge-based job growth in the Sun Belt region, including multifamily, office, retail and industrial, using core-plus, value-add, opportunistic and ground-up multifamily development strategies.

In Dallas, MGO Private Wealth has hired V. David Russell has joined the MGO Private Wealth team as a Managing Director and the Head of Family Office Services. 

He concentrates on building out the firm’s multi-family office practice and investment platform, which includes growing the firm’s focus on entertainment, sports, and media professionals and increasing the focus on the distinct financial interests of affluent people of color.

Prior to joining MGO Private Wealth, Russell was a private banker at the JPMorgan Private Bank, where he created the firm’s diverse client business initiative designed to inform, connect, and advise affluent people of color, as well as private wealth management, business management, tax and lifestyle financial services.”

“For many people of color, professional athletes, and entertainers, trust isn’t automatically there with traditional financial advisors,” Russell said. He says he’s helping to bridge that gap and offer opportunities in real estate investment to people of color.

Education and Career Assistance Part of Onyx Program

A portion of the Onyx Impact Fund’s financial returns will be dedicated to educational and career assistance to help increase the participation of traditionally under-represented minorities. Casoro has established the Casoro Group Education Foundation (CGEF), a Texas nonprofit corporation in the process of applying for 501(c)(3) status that will be funded by generous donors and pledges from the Onyx Impact Fund.

“With CGEF, we’re aiming to make real estate professional opportunities accessible to historically marginalized and under-resourced students,” said Casoro Group CEO Yuen Yung. “The foundation’s mission is to offer students educational programs, experience and jobs to enable minorities to build the generational wealth possible in our industry.”

Currently, only 8.3 percent of senior-level commercial real estate positions are filled by minorities, and only 4.6 percent of all commercial real estate positions are filled by Blacks, with senior positions having even less representation at 2.2 percent. By focusing Onyx Impact Fund-invested acquisitions on real estate sponsors and joint-venture partnerships that are at least 50 percent minority-led, Casoro seeks to help change this. 

CGEF initiatives will help increase diversity in the commercial real estate industry through education, scholarships, paid internships, and facilitating the invaluable networking connections necessary for success. 

The foundation is working with Huston-Tillotson University, a private Historically Black University (HBCU) in Austin, Texas, to be the first beneficiary. The university, as well as community colleges in the Austin area, can receive grants in support of education programs for minority students interested in entering the real estate industry. CGEF will also connect commercial real estate professionals with schools to serve as mentors, academic and professional advisors and more.

“It’s time for the real estate industry to embrace change,” said Yung. “We know that greater diversity leads to improved profitability.”