Inclusive investment service Wealth8 has extended its partnership with WealthKernel, a wealthtech provider for digital investment services, to launch a mobile investment app for Black and multi-ethnic communities.

The new mobile app, which is now available in the UK, will support more diverse wealth creation by providing financial education services and investment opportunities for Black and multi-ethnic investors.

The app for Black and multi-ethnic investors

News of the mobile investment app follows a 2020 report by the UK think tank Resolution Foundation that found that people of Black African ethnicity typically hold the lowest wealth, which is a median figure of £24,000 family wealth per adult, amounting to less than one-eighth of the wealth held by a person of White British ethnicity.

As a result of these statistics, Wealth8 seeks to give people from Black and multi-ethnic backgrounds greater access to financial education to generate wealth creation which could plug the growing wealth gaps across the UK.

Wealth8 is using WealthKernel‘s investment APIs to launch the mobile app, which will mean increased flexibility and faster onboarding for its customers and cross-platform functionality across its desktop and mobile user experiences.

Previously, Wealth8 used WealthKernel’s white-label “robo advisor”, a desktop experience providing its customers with stocks and shares ISAs, general investment accounts, and a suite of portfolios created by BlackRock.

David Fisayo, Co-Founder and COO at Wealth8, said: “We believe that investing and building wealth should be for everyone. It’s time to bridge the wealth gap for those traditionally overlooked or underserved in the area of investments. As a result, Wealth8 has launched its iOS and Android mobile app, which is now available for early access.

“To celebrate our launch and Black History Month, we are running a #MyWealthIs campaign to document the Black wealth experience with unscripted reflections on what wealth means within the Black community—taking the opportunity to put a positive light on wealth creation within the Black community.

“WealthKernel has been an exceptional partner and enabled us to bring our vision to life by utilising their technology platform and infrastructure. They have an experienced and committed team that invested in understanding our vision, customers and worked with us to leverage their tools to power our digital wealth offering.”

Karan Shanmugarajah, CEO of WealthKernel, said: “Wealth8 is a prime example of how we as an industry should be tackling conversations around wealth, equality and inclusion. By helping bring more financial businesses like Wealth8 to market, we can bring investment and wealth creation services to underserved communities while challenging the misconceptions that wealth management should be limited to those with significant amounts of money.

“We’re incredibly excited to be supporting Wealth8 on their journey and wholeheartedly support their mission to tackle growing financial inequality across the UK.”

In this article, you learned that:

• The median figure of family wealth per adult for a person of Black African ethnicity amounts to less than one-eighth of the wealth held by a person of White British ethnicity.
  
• Targeted interventions on financial education and access to investment opportunities for underrepresented groups could plug growing wealth gaps.
  
• Wealth management doesn’t have to be limited to those with significant amounts of money.