The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

The following is an excerpt from a report put together by SIFMA (Securities Industry and Financial Market Association):

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{The date of this document is 5/2005}

“Most importantly, as revealed in the 1998 landmark study, The Multicultural American Dream index, African-Americans have experienced accelerated growth, and are out pacing the general market by over 300 percent, in four critical measures of success: mortgage originations, median household income, small business ownership and obtaining degrees in higher education.

• Presently, African-Americans have the highest buying power of any minority group, at $532 billion, up 73 percent since 1990.
• African-Americans are obtaining degrees in higher education at three times the rate of the general market.
• With mortgage originations by African-American households indexing at over 330 versus general market households, African-Americans are now a vital component driving the housing market. Currently, almost 50 percent of African-American households own their own homes.
• African-Americans have embraced entrepreneurship. With a growth rate that exceeds that of White Americans by five times, and with the revenues increasing by over 60 percent in the last business census update, small business ownership is a key barometer of continued success for this segment.
• As of 1997, there are approximately 259,000 African-American households with $100,000+ income, which translates to 1 in 6 of all households at this level. overall median household income is increasing 60 percent faster than White households.
• The continued growth in wealth for this segment presents a clear opportunity. With an average portfolio size of $115,000 per household, current available investment dollars are $57,500,000. According to projections, within five years, these investments dollars will increase to $83,375,000 and in ten years, to $115,920,000.”

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